Comfort. Physical ease and freedom
from pain or constraint. Comfort. The easing or alleviation
of mental grief or distress. Comfort. There's many of you
in need of comfort this morning. When we mention the word comfort,
The passage of scripture that comes to mind for all of us is
in Isaiah chapter 40. Go ahead and turn there with
me if you would. It's there that the Lord tells
the prophet Isaiah to comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith
the Lord. Isaiah chapter 40, verse one.
Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. Now God tells
the prophet to console his people, to help them, to encourage them,
to tell them where comfort is to be found. That's what preaching
the gospel is. It's pointing the way to Christ
who is our comfort. One of the things that concerns
folks so much today, even believers, is the unknown and the uncertainty
of things to come. We all worry a little bit too
much about those kinds of things. The unknown, the uncertainty
of things that are yet to come. But, The enlightened child of
God has already been made to know how everything is going
to work out for them. It's gonna work out for their
good. That's what God said. All things work together for
the good of the whole world. No, that's not what he said.
All things work together for the good of them who love the
Lord, who are be called according to His purpose. It's gonna work
out for our good. We know how it's gonna turn out.
In verse two, God tells His prophet, He says, speak ye comfortably. And if you've got a marginal
Bible there, that word comfortably means to the heart. Speak ye
comfortably, speak ye to the heart of Jerusalem, God's people,
that's who Jerusalem is. Speak to their heart. And this
is how we are to preach, comfortably speak to their heart words of
comfort. That's my charge to you this
morning from God Almighty. Comfort ye my people, sayeth
your God. That's what I wanna do. I want
you to be comforted and I want to be comforted. God says, speak
ye comfortably and cry unto her, call out to her, plead with her,
declare to her, preach to her with passion, proclaim and publish
these things. What things? First one, that
her warfare is accomplished. I want you to just stop this
morning, slow down for a little bit, and just think about that. Tell her that her warfare is
accomplished. Look at that statement real close
in your Bible. Does it say that this warfare
is accomplished? Or does your Bible say that the
victory of war has been made possible? That's a pretty popular
message today. Your victory's been made possible.
All you have to do is add your will and your work and your worth
to it. But that's not what God's word
says, is it? It says that the church's warfare
is accomplished. Past tense, done, finished, accomplished. It's achieved, fulfilled. Secondly,
we see that the people of God has their iniquity pardoned. Comfort ye my people. How do
I comfort them? Tell them their warfare's finished.
No more war. No more fighting. It's accomplished,
it's finished. And tell them that their sin
is pardoned, put away, forgiven, forgotten forever. The child
of God's warfare is accomplished, finished. No more war, no more
fighting for us to do, no more to do but to rest in the work
that is finished. What has this bride, this beloved
one of the Lord done to deserve such redemption? For she hath
received of the Lord's hand double for all her sins. I read that
verse over and over and over and over again, and all she does
is receive. She receives of the Lord's hand
double. The Lord has paid sin's wages.
The Lord has fulfilled God's law in her room instead. The
Lord Jesus has satisfied God's justice in her place. Christ
has put away her sin by the sacrifice of himself. And that is where
all her comfort lies. All of it. Comfort is found in
the fact that sin is pardoned. Comfort is found in the accomplishment
of this warfare. God's people have received of
the Lord's hand. Where did you receive it? From
the Lord's hand. Salvation is of who? The Lord. Salvation comes from who? The
Lord's hand. Tell her that she's received.
What do we do with a gift? We receive it. We don't buy it. I got a gift for you. Oh, well,
thank you. $24. That's no gift. You know that word double, that
means in the Hebrew, it means duplicate. We all know what a
duplicate is. I've received a duplicate of
Christ's righteousness, but you know, it's much more than just
a duplicate. You might say, well, yeah, it's more like an exact
duplicate. Well, yes, but it's even more
than that. You see, actually, the righteousness
that I have is the very righteousness of Christ. It's his righteousness. It's not just a duplicate, it's
His. And now it's mine. I've received
double. His righteousness is now my righteousness. I have Christ's righteousness,
and Christ's righteousness is mine. That's double. Christ has
the only righteousness that God will accept. Let me say that
again. Christ has the only righteousness
that God will accept because it's a perfect righteousness. It has to be perfect for God
to accept it. Christ is the only righteousness
that you and I have to offer. People say, well, I offered the
Lord my heart. Listen, that's the wrong thing
to offer. Your heart's deceitful above
all things and desperately wicked. Your heart is only evil and only
evil continually. God won't accept it. This is
not perfect. But I know what it is. Christ,
perfect righteousness. And it's mine. I've received
it of the Lord. I received it of the Lord's hand.
And it's mine. Double. Christ has made payment
for sin's wages, that being the blood of God's Lamb. And we've received righteousness
for reconciliation. Christ is the end of the law
for righteousness. How does a shepherd comfort his
sheep? We talked a little about it in
the first hour. As Christ's under-shepherd, I
want to comfort you, I do. I'm charged to comfort you. Verse
three tells us how to do so. It says, the voice of him, the
preacher, the under shepherd, the pastor, that crieth in the
wilderness. Now this is no doubt referring
to John the Baptist, picturing the preacher, the forerunner
of Christ. But what does he cry? Look what
he cries. He cries, prepare ye the way
of the Lord. Prepare ye the way of the Lord
and make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Now this is what a preacher cries.
And this is what comforts God's people. Prepare ye the way of
the Lord. That's what gives us comfort.
The Lord's return. Prepare ye the way of the Lord.
He's coming again. All through the Old Testament,
there's one coming, the Messiah, the perfect one, the seed, the
one who's gonna put away your sin. The New Testament, He came. And then the epistles, they tell
us He's coming again. What a glorious thought. Christ
is coming again. That's what we cry, prepare ye
the way of the Lord. He's prepared a place for His
people. That where He, Christ is, we
shall be also. He said you shall be there also.
Not you might be. Not if you're a good little boy
or girl. Not if you straighten up and fly right. No, by a gift
of God's mercy and grace, because her warfare is accomplished and
her sins put away in part. And this is how faith comes.
It comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. Faith comes
in preaching and hearing the Gospel. And by preaching the
Gospel, we prepare the way of the Lord. In preaching, Christ
and Him crucified. That's our message. That's the
message that saves. We're comforted in knowing that
our warfare is finished, and that our sin is pardoned, and
that everything is okay between us and God. More than okay. Perfectly reconciled. And in
preaching this, we make straight a highway in the desert for our
God. This highway to God is made in
the preaching of Jesus Christ, who is the gospel. He is the
way. He is the highway. He is the
truth and the life, and no man comes to the Father but by Him.
If you're gonna get to God, you're gonna have to go this highway.
It's the only one that leads to God. Gospel preaching is the
highway for God. Prepare ye the way of the Lord. Through preaching, this highway's
made even. In preaching truth, this highway's
made straight. This highway is kept clear of
any obstruction. God's Word has been reserved
and it's been preserved, as Larry said in his prayer. This is the
narrow way that leads to life. Few there be that find it. Prepare
ye the way of the Lord. Make it your business to find
that narrow way. There's a broad way that leads
to destruction. Everybody, that's easy to find.
but prepare you the way of the Lord. Find that narrow gate and
that narrow path. This highway's made straight
in the desert wilderness of this world in which we live. Gospel
preaching clears the highway of God. Did you know, I found
this very interesting, I love to look up words, see what they
mean in the original language, but the Hebrew word for highway
means viaduct. You know, a viaduct is a long
bridge-like structure carrying a road or a railroad across a
large valley or extreme low place. That's what a viaduct is. Christ
is our Vida. You know, immediately I think
about that great gulf that we're told about in the Scriptures
where the rich man and Lazarus, the beggar Lazarus, was in the
bosom of Abraham and there was a great gulf between the two. Abraham said, there's a great
gulf between you and Lazarus. And there's a great gulf between
us and our God. and sin has separated us from
Him. That's the cause. But Christ
is that thigh dub. Christ is that bridge, that mighty
gulf, is that separation that sin has made and that Christ
has spanned at Calvary because that's where Christ put our sin
away, at Calvary's cross. And it was there that Christ,
the great viaduct of grace and mercy, stood in the gap. That's
what a mediator does. He stands in the gap and he bridged
that great gulf between a thrice holy God and His chosen people. And the two were reconciled together
forever. Christ is my viaduct. He's my
bridge. And that's where I find my comfort. Nothing else will comfort God's
people. When the Lord says, tell them that their warfare is accomplished,
that means that it's not only finished, but that means that
it's accepted. Not just finished, not just completed,
but accepted by God Himself. And that's our hope. That's our
comfort. The sovereign king is satisfied
with how this war has been resolved. The king's law's been kept. The
king's justice has been satisfied. The ruler of heaven's court is
pleased with the outcome. And God says with compassion,
comfort ye, comfort ye my people. They're my people. Speak comfortably
to them, speak to their hearts. God enabled me to do that, to
speak to your heart. Tell them that their warfare
is accomplished. Now I can find no comfort in
God requiring something from me that I can in no way provide. Can you find any comfort at all
in trying to provide something that you know you can't provide?
No. No comfort to be found there.
What comfort would be in that, especially when it's God who
requires it? God says, comfort, comfort, comfort
ye my people. How? Tell my glorious bride that
her sin is gone. It's gone. And that's the proof
that God has accepted this perfect finished work of Christ, who
is the sinner's perfect righteousness, because God accepted it. We're
accepted in the beloved, in Him, the Lord Jesus. Jesus Christ
is God's beloved. And they're His people by choice.
I don't know why that upsets folks. They're His by choice. If you belong to God, it's by
divine choice. The Lord Jesus said, you've not
chosen me, I've chosen you. One says, well, He chose me because
I loved Him. And John says, no, we loved Him
because He first loved us. So that's not it. It pleased
the Lord to make you His people. That's what God Himself said.
These are the Lord's chosen people. He calls them my people. Christ
calls them my sheep. The Lord said, My sheep, hear
My voice. The Lord said, My sheep, follow
Me. The Lord said, I lay down My
life for the sheep. He foreknew them. He predetermined
to make them His. He called them by His grace.
He drew them by His love and mercy. He justified them through
His blood. He glorifies them in His perfect
righteousness. He made them His before the world
was ever made. They're His by sovereign choice. And that gives me such comfort. They're His by divine purchase.
For as much as you know you were not redeemed, purchased with
corruptible things as silver and gold from your vain conversation,
received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious
blood of Christ as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. That brings me wonderful comfort. Christ, when He had found that
one pearl of great price, He went and sold all that He had.
He gave all that he had and he bought it. And that pearl of
great price was his church, his bride, his people. And he presented
it to himself, a spotless church without spot or blemish. You're
bought with a price. Therefore, glorify God in your
body and in your spirit, which are God's. We don't belong to
ourselves, friends. We belong to Him. We're bought
with a price. Be ye not the servants of men,
be ye the servants of God. God chose us. Christ purchased
us. The Holy Spirit regenerated us.
Salvations of the Lord. The salvation of the righteousness
of the Lord. Christ gave Himself. He gave
His life. He shed His blood. He bought
you with a great price. Is it not lawful? Is it not right
for Him to do what He will with you? You belong to Him. Bought with a great price. It's
free to you. It costs the Lord everything.
The child of God is his by divine call. God foreknew him, predestinated,
predetermined. called him, saved him, justified
him, put his sin away. One day glorify him, give him
a glorified body without sin. That's what awaits every child
of God. What a glorious gospel God has
given us. What a glorious substitute God
has given us. God calls us out of darkness.
Where does he call us to? Into his marvelous light. Christ
is his marvelous light. He calls us into Christ. Comfort
ye, comfort ye my people. Now I used to love it when my
father called me his son. I just did. This is my son. I'm like, I need a son. I love
it even more when God calls me his. He's my son. These are my people. Comfort
my people. They're mine. We're God's people
by the faith that God gives us. God's people want to be his people.
God's people are willing to be His people. Yes, God made them
willing in the day of His fire, but they're nonetheless willing.
I'm glad He made me willing. I wouldn't have been willing
any other way. I was unwilling. We don't have the ability or
the will to come. We're flesh and blood. By nature,
we're subject to infirmities. We're full of iniquity. Pain
and sorrow accompany this flesh in all that we do. Temptation,
tribulations, and trials are all around us every day, all
day long. They come to bring trouble. We're
a tried people. In this world, we're gonna have
much tribulation. That's what the Lord said. Not
just a little, much. But we are comforted. Christ
has overcome the world. And with much tribulation, we
enter the kingdom of God. The tribulation doesn't enter
with us. We're going to have trouble. It's good for us to
be afflicted. We've talked about this so much.
God's people are tried people, but the trying of their faith
works. Patience, and patience has its perfect work. making
the believer complete and mature and entire and lacking in wanting
nothing. God weans us from this world. God shows us there's none of
it worth having. Christ is all. Your warfare is
accomplished. Your sin is put away. Rest in
the Lord Jesus Christ. God's the one that sends the
trouble and he sends it to teach us. He troubles us to chasten
us and he chastens those that he loves. How do we comfort one
another? How do we comfort the people
of God? How do I comfort you? How do you comfort me? I wanna
know. God said, speak ye comfortably. So I know we do it with words.
This comfort comes by speaking, speak, teach, preach, give the
word of God. Peter, do you love me? You know
that I love you. Feed my sheep. What do we feed
them? We feed them sheep food. We feed them the word of God.
That's what this is, sheep food. But what sayeth it? The word
is nigh thee, even in my mouth and in my heart, that is the
word of faith which we preach. Preach the word, be instant,
in season, out of season, reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering
and doctrine. This is why we do not forsake
the assembling of ourselves together. We come to hear the gospel. We
come to hear this good news about how our warfare is accomplished
and our sin is put away. And we come together to exhort
one another and encourage one another and comfort one another
as we see the day of Christ approaching. Prepare ye the way of the Lord. We comfort one another with these
words. God's Word, the words of God,
of His own will, beget He us. How? With the Word of Truth.
If hearing this Word, the Word of God, doesn't mean anything
to you, then salvation doesn't mean much to you. This book tells
me that He was wounded for my transgressions. He was bruised
for my iniquities. And the chastisement of our peace
was laid upon Him. And by His stripes we were healed.
And that's the truth. There's no other way for our
sin to be put away. And Spurgeon once said, if Christ
bore my sins, I sure don't bear them. Because God is a just God
and a holy God. And if Christ died for my sin,
I shall not die for them. God cannot charge Christ and
me both for the same sin. My sin cannot be in two places
at one time, any more than I can be. Our sins are pardoned, they're
gone. That's what the Bible says. The
blood of Jesus Christ, God's son, now listen, cleanses us
from all sin. All of it. God said, though your
sins be as scarlet, I'll make them white as snow. The Bible
says that our sins are blotted out. The Bible declares that
our names are written in the Lamb's book of life. The Bible
says our sins have been separated from us as far as the east is
from the west. That's comforting. The scripture
says our sins and iniquities are remembered no more. That's
what God says. The sins of Judah shall not be
found. You're not going to find them.
Why? Because they don't exist. I don't
have any sin because Christ put them away. I want to be very
direct. Will you believe God this morning?
If you want to be comforted, you've got to believe what God
says. God said the work's finished.
The work of redemption is finished. The warfare's finished. He's
the one that must be satisfied. He's the one whose law we've
offended. He's the one who all our sin
is against. He's the one who came and satisfied
his own law. He's the one that came and satisfied
his own justice. And he's appeased. The sinner's
warfare is accomplished. His sin is put away. And God
says, be comforted in these things. Will you be? Do these things
comfort you? Well, I say with Paul in 2 Corinthians
7, verse 13, therefore we are comforted in your comfort. I'm
comforted in your comfort. Are you comforted? Then I'm comforted.
I'm comfortable. And this message I preach is
a comforting one. Some say my gospel is hopeless. They say the sinner's got to
do something. That's what makes it grace. It's
unmerited, it's undeserved. If our work must be perfect for
God to accept, and if I cannot provide that perfection that
God requires, if my substitute provided that perfection for
me, where could I find more comfort than that? Nothing for me to
do but believe. Nothing for me to do but to rest.
That's good news. It's my sin that offends God,
all my sins against Him. And if my sin is pardoned and
put away, then my offense against God is removed and I'm now accepted
in the Lord Jesus Christ, God's beloved. And that's the message
that continues to comfort this wretched sinner day in and day
out. Christ did for me what I could
not do for myself and everything with me and my God is all right,
perfect, couldn't be better. How you doing, Brother Dave?
Couldn't be better. Couldn't be better. You know
when you truly rest? When you're the most comfortable.
When you're the most comfortable. In Christ, there's true rest.
In Christ, there's great comfort. We comfort one another, we edify
one another, we encourage one another, we exhort one another
by remembering what God has done for us. Our warfare's accomplished. He did it. Our sins put away. He put it away. And everything's
all right. I want that to comfort you.