Isaiah 40. I preach knowing that
I cannot do anything for anybody. But I also preach knowing that
this word that I have been called to declare is the only hope that men and
women have for salvation. This word right here, it pleased
the Lord by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. Isn't that right? That's a weighty
thing to consider. Salvation is not by man's might. It is not by man's ability. As soon as a man believes he
can start taking credit, well, I helped out in this thing. It
is not by man's ability in any way, shape, or form. Salvation
has everything to do with God's will and purpose. It has nothing
to do with how good of a speaker a man is. It has everything to do with
God's Holy Spirit, and it has everything to do with God's Word.
Everything. Our God has declared what is
to be preached. And He has declared why it is
to be preached and how it is to be preached. And that's our
subject. The title of this is Preaching, What, Why, and How. Verse 1 says, Comfort ye, comfort
ye my people, saith your God. Are you not so glad that that
does not say, rake them through the coals? Rake them through
the coals, rake them through the coals, saith your God. That makes more sense to me.
But that's not what he says. He said, Comfort ye, comfort
ye my people, saith your God. God has a people. God has a people. It's amazing to be counted one
of them. But God has a people. If God
had not chosen to have a people, Every soul on this earth would
have run straight into hell. We would all be running straight
into hell, willingly. Knowing the choice, we would
still choose that. But God chose to have a people. A sinful people. But He chose
to have a people. This world does not want to hear
that God chose to have a people. They don't like it. They hate
that. They don't want to hear that. But it does not change
the fact that God chose to have a people. They can hate it all
they want to. It doesn't change it one bit.
God has a people. We don't argue that. We don't
judge it. Who are we to reply against God? Who are we to reply against God? The truth to declare is God has
a people. God chose to have a people. And this is what he tells his
preachers. Your job is to comfort them. Don't you love that? That's
your job. Verse 1 says, Comfort ye, comfort
ye my people, saith your God. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem. My center reference for comfortably
says to the heart. That's what comfortably means.
To the heart. You speak to the heart. Speak
to the heart. Men and women, they struggle
in the mind and they struggle in the mind, but it's not until
God speaks to the heart that they have any comfort of believing
they belong to Him. being one of his people. If God
does not speak to the heart, it doesn't matter what the mind
believes. It really doesn't. Salvation is of the heart. Out
of the heart are the issues of life. He said, comfort ye, comfort
ye my people, saith your God. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem
and cry unto her that her warfare is accomplished. Now here's what
everybody wants to know. What do I have to do? That's what everybody wants to
know. What do I have to do? Everybody wants to enter into
heaven. That's the question that was
asked all through the scripture. Men ask it over and over. What
must I do? What must I do? What has to be
done in order for me to enter into heaven? How do I, I understand
that somebody's going to go, how do I get there? Until God moves on the heart,
that question will never be answered. You know that? Until God moves
on the heart, that question will never be answered. Never be answered. God's messenger will declare
that all of God's people were chosen from the foundation of
the world. And a mind will hear that and say, that can't be.
That just can't be. God's messenger will declare
that Christ came and he died for only those chosen people
from the foundation of the world. And the mind will say that can't
be. That cannot be. This thing cannot be all in God's
hands. That's a shocking thing to people,
isn't it? You mean to tell me that it's all in God's hands
and I don't have any say in the matter? I have to have some say. I have to. If God ever leaves a person there,
what a horrible place to be left. But if God will speak to the
heart, if you'll come to a sinner and speak to that sinner's heart,
if God will move, That child of God, this is what that child
will hear him say. If God comes to a heart, if God
lovingly speaks to a heart, this is what the child will hear.
Your warfare is accomplished. What do I have to do? What do
I have to do? Who do I have to fight? I got
to fight off the devil? I don't want to do that. What
I want to hear is, your warfare is accomplished. It's over. It's over. You must not do anything. It's done. If God ever speaks
that to a heart, this is what the heart will say. I believe
that. That's what a heart will say.
If God speaks, a heart will say, I believe it. Verse 2 says, Speak
ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her that her warfare
is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned." Her iniquity is
pardoned. Christ only saves sinners. Only. This is what he said, I
want you to go tell my people. You go tell her that her iniquity,
her sin, is pardoned. Christ only saves sinners. I wish I could tell this to the
world. Probably one of the most shocking
statements that could ever be heard. Christ only saves sinners. I can't come, I'm a sinner. Christ
only saves sinners. He only saves sinners. If a soul
on this earth is not a sinner, Christ will not save that soul.
Now we all know that there is no soul on earth that's not a
sinner. But if a man or a woman believes
in his or her own heart that he's not a sinner, That's just
a devastating belief to have. The reason is because there's
no comfort in this word. For that soul, there's no comfort
from God. This is what he said, I did not
come to call the righteous. Everybody is trying to be righteous. Everybody is trying to put up
a front and let other people think they're righteous. But
if they could ever hear God speak this to their heart and it takes
God almighty. I did not come to call the righteous,
but sinners to repentance. This is how mercy is evidenced. This is how God's goodness and
His mercy is shown. It's when a self-righteous sinner,
when a self-righteous person becomes a sinner. when he becomes
a sinner. It means the truth has come.
That's what it means. They see God. They see themselves. A man
named Joseph Hart, he wrote this poem. Here's a line out of it.
He said, A sinner is a sacred thing. The Holy Ghost has made
him so. The Holy Ghost has revealed the
truth to him. Believers are the only sinners
on earth. Do you know that? Believers are
the only sinners. God's congregations are congregations
full of sinners. Their biggest gripe is, I'm a
greater sinner than you are. That's their biggest gripe. God
comes and he in mercy reveals the truth to a soul that I'm
a sinner. I'm a sinner. And then he reveals
the truth to a soul that Christ came to save sinners. And when
you hear that truth, it makes a soul want to cry. If you came
to save sinners only, I'm the chief. I'm the chief. So every soul that has heard
that, every soul who knows that this is what God said, I want
you to preach to that soul. Verse one, comfort ye, comfort
ye my people, saith your God. 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. You talk about grace. You talk about grace. We take
the word grace so for granted. We sing amazing grace. Those
words just flow, amazing grace. Grace is amazing. It's so amazing. He said, you've received double
for all your sins. And he said, that's what I want
you to preach to my people. That's what I want you to tell them.
Now he's going to tell us why. And in one of these verses, we're
about to see John, this is speaking of John, he said, what shall
I cry? What shall I cry? But this is
all under the category of why? Verse three, 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. Every valley shall
be exalted and every mountain and hill shall be made low and
the crooked shall be made straight and the rough places plain. And
the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall
see it together, for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it. The
voice said, Cry, and he said, What shall I cry? All flesh is
grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as 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." Why do we preach this truth? Why do we preach
this truth? The reason is because every valley,
that's what verse 4 said, every valley, every hidden thing, every
low thing, every secret thing, all of the secrets of the heart,
all the secrets of the mind, all of the hidden sins, the hidden
emotions, the hidden thoughts, they are all going to be brought
up. They're all going to be brought up. Verse 4 says, Every valley
shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill, all of the pride, all
of the self-righteousness, it's going to be made low. It's going
to be cut down. He said the crooked is going
to be made straight. And he said the rough places,
everything that goes against the grain of God's Word, is going
to be planed off. They're going to be made plain.
Verse five says in the glory of the Lord shall be revealed.
He is coming back. He's coming back. He's coming back. The glory of
the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together
for the mouth of the Lord has spoken it. Every knee is going
to bow. Every knee. Salvation is being
made to bow right now. Salvation is God coming to a
sinner. Speaking to the heart of that
sinner. Revealing the truth to that sinner. And causing him
to bow right now. Then every knee is still going
to bow. But it will be too late. It will
be too late. So this is why we cry the truth
right now. Verse 6 says, The voice said
cry. And he said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the
goodliness thereof is as 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."
That's it, just grass. That's it. Man believes he's
something when he's nothing. He believes he's something when
he is nothing. He said, just grass. Verse 12,
look down at verse 12. Our Lord said, who hath measured
the waters in the hollow of his hand? Who meted out heaven with
the span and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure?
Weighed the mountains in scales and the hills in the balance.
Who helped me? Man believes he needs to help
God. I need to help God. Verse 13
says, Who hath directed the Spirit of the Lord, or being His counselor,
hath taught Him? With whom took He counsel, and
who instructed Him, and taught Him in the path of judgment,
and taught Him knowledge, and showed to Him the way of understanding?
Who? Verse 15, He said, Behold, the
nations are as a drop of a bucket. All the nations. He said, they
are counted as the small dust of the balance. After everything's
been taken off the scale, just the remnants of the dust left
on it. He said in verse 15, behold,
he taketh up the aisles. That's every place on this earth,
everywhere surrounded by water. He said, he taketh up the aisles
as a very little thing. And Lebanon, Lebanon is so proud
of its cedar trees. They got the cedars of Lebanon.
He said, Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, nor the beasts thereof
sufficient for a burnt offering. All nations before him are as
nothing, and they are counted to him less than nothing in vanity. That's the truth, isn't it? That's
the truth. Our God is pretty clear on where
sinful man stands in his eyes, isn't he? He's pretty clear on
it. David said in Psalm 37, this
world is going to be cut down. What if God comes back tonight? It's 813. What if God comes back
tonight? This world is going to go meet
God. And our God says that the people
are grass. Empty, vanity, worthless grass. The end of verse 7, He said,
Surely the people is grass. What people is He talking about?
All people. All people. Verse 8, The grass
withereth, the flower fadeth, But the word of our God shall
stand forever. Thank God. Thank God. Now, that's why we preach this. That's why we preach this. Oh,
why do we preach this? Why can't we just compromise? Wouldn't it be so much easier
to just compromise? We could make this church in
this year alone, I guarantee you, I could make it ten times
as big if we just compromise. I believe I could do it. Why
do we preach this? It's because we're going to go
meet God. Men and women are going to go
meet God. And He said, all flesh is grass. God told us what we
preach. He told us why we preach. And
now He's going to tell us how. Verse 9 says, O Zion, and my
center margin says, O thou that tellest good tidings to Zion,
you who have been called to declare the truth, O Zion that bringest
good tidings, get thee up into the high mountain. Don't grovel
down here below. Don't spend your time dwelling
on man's works, man's ability, man's anything. Get up into the
high mountain. Point men and women above. Verse 9 says, O Zion that bringest
good tidings, get thee up into the high mountain. O Jerusalem
that bringest good tidings, lift up thy voice with strength, lift
it up, be not afraid, say unto the cities of Kingsport, Behold
your God. You tell them who God is. I thought Sunday morning and
Wednesday night. Tell them who God is. Tell them
who God is. Look with me at verse 18. To
whom then will you liken God? Men think they have God figured
out. They think they know what He's
like. They think they know what He wants. They think they know
what He's happy with. They think they know what He
will accept. To whom then will you liken God? Or what likeness
will you compare unto Him? The workman melteth a graven
image, and the goldsmith spreadeth it over with gold, and casteth
silver chains. He that is so impoverished that
he hath no oblation, he doesn't have any gift, any money, chooseth
a tree that will not rot, he seeketh unto him a cunning workman
to prepare a graven image that shall not be moved. Men, make
these little idols. And that in their mind makes
them religious. I got my idol. Most people wear
it around their neck, the little cross, and they hold it. Somebody
made it. They covered it with silver. This makes me religious. This makes me okay with God. Verse 21, he said, Have you not
known? Have you not heard? Hath it not
been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood from
the foundations of the earth? It is he that sitteth upon the
circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers. It's he that stretcheth out the
heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in,
that bringeth the princes to nothing." Man is so proud of
what he's attained. He said, I'm going to bring it
to nothing. He maketh the judges of the earth his vanity. Yea,
they shall not be planted. Yea, they shall not be sown.
Yea, their stock shall not take root in the earth. And he shall
also blow upon them. And they shall wither, and the
whirlwind shall take them away as stubble. To whom then will
you liken me? Or shall I be equal, saith the
Holy One? Lift up your eyes on high and
behold who hath created these things that bringeth out their
host by number. He calleth them all by names,
by the greatness of his might, for that he is strong in power,
not one faileth. Why sayest thou, O Jacob? Jacob
means sinner, trickster, supplanter. Why do you say and speak, O Israel? My way is hid from the Lord,
and my judgment is passed over from my God. Yes, I sin a little
bit, but God doesn't see that. He said in verse 28, hast thou
not known? Hast thou not heard that the
everlasting God, the Lord, the creator of the ends of the earth,
fainteth not, neither is weary? There is no searching of his
understanding. He giveth power to the faint
and to them that have no might. He increaseth strength. Even
the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall
utterly fall. Verse 31 says, but. Man, that's the great word of
the gospel. That's where you start crying.
Thank God, thank God. But. He said my people were under
the warfare of the adversary, but. My people were a people full
of iniquity, full of sin, but. All flesh is grass, but, verse 31 says, they that wait
upon the Lord, those who are looking to and bowing to and
trusting in the mercy of the Lord alone. I'm a sinner, David
said. Your judgment is right. Whatever you judge is right.
He said, I acknowledge my transgressions. My sins are ever before me. I'm
grass. But I'm just hoping in your mercy.
You said you're a merciful God, and that's all I have to go on.
That's all I have to go on. I just hope you will have mercy
on me. He said in verse 31, they that
wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount
up with wings as eagles. They shall run and not be weary. They shall walk and not faint. Why? When the world is going
to be cut down, Why? When we who trust in Him are
just as sinful as they are. No better. Why such a wonderful
outcome for us? Why? Look back at verse 10. Verse 10 says, Behold the Lord
God. that's Christ, shall come with strong hand,
that's Christ, the right hand of God, and his arm, that's Christ,
shall rule for him. Behold, his reward is with him. His reward is with Him. What is His reward? What does He get? In Psalm 2, God the Father said
to God the Son, If you ask of Me, I will give you the heathen
for thine inheritance. He must have asked. He must have asked because it
says his reward is with him and his work before him. We started this with him saying,
you comfort my people by telling them that I finished the war.
You comfort my people by telling them that I paid for all of their
sin. You comfort my people by telling
them that I keep my work right in the front of my mind. My work
is before me. Every time he sees one of his
people, he remembers his work. As soon as he sees one of his
people, he remembers his work. Every single time. Therefore,
verse 11 says, he shall feed his flock like a shepherd. He shall gather the lambs with
his arm and carry them in his bosom and shall gently lead those
that are with young. You know what that is? Double. That right there is called
double. That's double goodness, double
mercy, double grace. He said, you go tell my people
they have received from my hand double for all their sins. You comfort them in Christ, saith
your God. That's what he said to say. So,
you know your sins. And I know my sins. I don't know
your sins and you don't know my sins and we're not about to
start telling each other. The truth is you don't know your
sins and I don't know my sins. If I got a good glimpse of what
I truly was, I could not make it. I could not stand it. But
what you know of your own self, what God has revealed to you
of your own self, What you know of your own wickedness in the
flesh, how it just, the rebellion, the vileness, everything that
weighs on you, that just stacks up. Sometimes those thoughts
from decades ago that won't go away, as they stack up and pile
up, the Lord has given you double
for all that. Double for all that. No matter
how big it gets, no matter how much it piles up, I'm not done
sinning. I'm only maybe halfway there. And I hate the thought
of that, but no matter how big it piles up, God says, you keep
telling my people, they have received of my hand double for
all their sins. Double. Double grace. Double
mercy. Double everything. That's wonderful,
isn't it? I was told to say that. There's
actually nothing I'd rather say. Double. God is good. Let's stand together.