Is He the one you look to for
all things? Does He bring you to look to
Him? Oh, may the Lord bring us, each
and every one of us, into trials that teach us to look to Him. I'd like you to open your Bibles,
if you would, to 2 Thessalonians chapter 2. Our series of grace messages
that we've been going through, looking into some of the characteristics
of God's grace to his people, has brought us to the seventh
of nine. We began by looking at regenerating
grace to be born again. Those who are dead in trespasses
and sin, just as we all were at one time. and how the Lord
must move in the hearts of men, giving life, the one who does
give life, regenerating, removing the old stony heart that at one
time was rebellious to the ways of the Lord, rebellious to the
sovereignty of God, and giving us a new heart, one that looks
to our Savior. One that looks up to the one
who deserves the glory of being looked up to. We looked at justifying grace.
Our Lord went to the cross and paid the price. He paid the justice
that was due to us. He took it upon himself. He shed
his blood for our case, for our cause. We are justified in Christ,
just as if I had never sinned. We looked at sanctifying grace,
where the Lord has taken us out of that world that we once walked
in, and He has put us into the world of truth. Into the Word of truth. Into
the Christ of truth. Into the Spirit of truth. We looked at preserving grace,
on how we are preserved by His grace. We are kept by the power
of God through faith unto salvation. We looked at instructing grace
on how we can go into our Lord's Word and see the instructions
our Lord gives us in looking to His Son, in looking to our
Savior for our needs. once again pointing us to the
one who deserves to be pointed to, our Savior, Christ Jesus.
Last week we looked into guiding grace, whereas just as Jonah
was guided, even though he didn't know it, he thought he was running
from God, our Lord, all he was doing was removing his hand and
allowing Jonah to run, so that Jonah would learn The same thing that you and I
must learn. The same thing that all of God's
people must learn. Salvation is of the Lord and
of the Lord alone. Nothing have I to give my Lord. I am but a worm. who stands before sinners of
the world to declare unto you that there is a Savior. A Savior of His people who has
perfectly saved them. There are no empty seats in heaven.
There will be no empty seats in the end. Everyone for whom
the Son died on the cross shall come to Him. That's His Word.
And each and every one of us are guided on that path to the
day when the Lord has marked for us to leave this world and stand in His glory forever. This morning, our subject is
comforting grace. In Isaiah chapter 40, you don't
need to turn there, our Savior tells His preacher, He says,
Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. Comfort my people
who are in turmoil and worrisome and through all these trials,
comfort them, give them comfort. Well, what must we be comforted
from though? What troubles the souls of God's
people? What trials bring a child of
God to seek comfort of the soul? In Friday night's Bible study,
we are in the book of Isaiah, and Isaiah is speaking to Jerusalem
and Judea, declaring their sins and the destruction that is about
to come upon them. A picture of the whole of time
itself is what it is. He may be speaking to just Jerusalem,
but God is talking to all of time through His prophet. It's
a picture of whole time itself, for a day is coming when the
world and all the wicked in it will be destroyed. Yet there
are a people, there are a people for whom God the Father sent
His only begotten Son to be their substitute, to be their Redeemer,
to hang on the cross and be made sin, that they, God's chosen,
would be made righteous in Him. Our brother Mike Loveless made
an excellent point when he said in Friday night's study afterwards,
the message of judgment never saves anyone. No one was ever
saved when judgment was preached to them. No, you see, the message
of grace is the message God uses to save His people. But the message
of judgment is what brings a child of God to hear the message of
grace. To know that I need grace. I must know first that I'm going
to be judged if I don't have it. To seek a physician, I must
know that I am sick. That I have nothing but boils
from the top of my head to the bottom of my feet. I have nothing
to offer a perfect and holy God. I need someone who can for me. And I must be brought. to know
that, for there was a time when my righteousness was bigger than
anything else. I'm not talking about I was some
holier-than-thou type of guy, but I also didn't think I was
all that bad. You see, it's real easy for us to think of how,
you know, I did some pretty good stuff today. I helped this person,
I gave to that person, we went and we did this. You know, it's
real easy for John Reeves to all of a sudden start thinking
something of himself. I hit the hall straight down
the fairway, whoo! And then the Lord reminds me, I just
let you do that, John. I gave you, John, the ability
to help that person. And I'm reminded that it is my
Savior, my sovereign God who gives me everything. Everything I have is from Him.
Everything each and every one of us have is from Him. And salvation is from Him and
Him alone. The message of judgment never
saved anybody. But it's what brings us to hear
the message of grace. This is the comfort that God's
people need. You see, we live daily in this
flesh, and in this flesh we fight, we war. For our spirit, our spirit
has this desire, I want to serve the Lord as best as I can. I
want to do what glorifies Him. But then the flesh turns around
and takes the glory for stuff that belongs to Him. And I know
this, and I see it. And it bothers me. Do things like that bother you? I need the comfort of grace.
God's grace. The very fact that He is gracious
to anyone is a wonderful thing. For we all have sinned and come
short of the glory of God. We all deserve God's wrath. Yet from the foundation of the
world, God chose His elect to be saved from this wrath to come. He chose a people. He wrote their
names in a book of life. He predestinated them to be vessels
of His mercy. Are you in 2 Thessalonians? Look
at verses 13 with me if you would, please. But we are bound to give thanks
always to God for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord, because
God has from the beginning chosen you to salvation, to sanctification
of the Spirit, in it of the Spirit and belief of the truth. He has
chosen His people. If God has done something, shall
it not be done? Is there any way that we could
thwart the hand of God? Can anything separate God's people
from the love that He has in His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ? We've been chosen to salvation
through the sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the
truth. Whereunto He called you by our Gospel, by the preaching
of the Good News. The Good News that God became
a man. He humbled Himself from the glory
that He was. And He became flesh for you and
I. He didn't have to do that. He
could have just said, wiped it all out. He almost did one time,
remember? There was a big flood that came upon the earth. And
it wiped out everything that breathed. Except for eight. And the animals that were with
those eight. And a box that he taught that man to build. God could have done that to the
whole human race. But no, he loved those eight. just as He
loves each and every one of us. They were in Christ. They were
in the ark. The ark is a picture of Christ.
The good news, the comfort is, is no matter what the storms
there are outside that are going on around us, no matter what
tree may be falling in your life, yes, that was part of Bible study
for those of you who couldn't be there. No matter what is going on, We're
in Christ, and if we're in Christ, there's nothing to worry about.
All that other stuff is temporal. It'll all go away when the Lord
comes again, and all His people will stand in glory with Him,
singing praise unto the Father. Therefore, brethren, verse 15. Therefore, brethren, stand fast.
Take a hold. Grab a hold of the traditions
which you have been taught. The traditions of looking to
the sun. Turning away from the flesh.
Remembering the table. Remembering what that table represents.
The blood that was shed on the cross. Not those silly traditions
of walking down an aisle, shaking a little canister with smoke
in it. Not the traditions of going and getting into the baptismal,
or even coming to that table. but what they point to. They
point to our Savior. Everything points to Him. The
entire Old Testament points to Him. Everything that was created
points to Him, the Creator of all things. Stand fast and hold to the traditions
which you have been taught, whether by the Word... Did you catch that? Not by man. Not foolish traditions that John
might teach you, because I can teach some pretty stupid things.
But what the Word, the Word of God teaches you. Now our Lord Jesus Christ Himself
and God, even our Father which hath loved us and hath given
us everlasting consolation, that's comfort. To console the spirit. To console the spirit. To comfort
the spirit. Consolation and good hope through
grace. Not through works. Not through
anything we could do. Not through anything that we
have done. But through His grace. Because He is gracious to a people.
because of what He has done for us. That's our consolation, that's
our comfort. He would comfort your hearts
and establish you in every good word and work. In Matthew 5-3
we read, Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the
kingdom of heaven. Are you poor today? Is your spirit poor? Not if it
has Christ. If you have Christ dwelling in
you, you have everything. Blessed are they that mourn the
flesh, for they shall be comforted. It doesn't say the flesh, but
that's what it's talking about. Blessed are they that mourn,
for they shall be comforted. For one to be lifted up, one
must be brought low. The righteous have no need of
a physician. When one is given the revelation
of God's holiness and our sinfulness, there is only one place that
we can be. On the ground. Face down. For He is so holy,
He cannot even look upon sin. How could I face one who is so
holy when I have so much sin in me? So where is the comfort in that,
John? Where is the comforting You're feeling so distraught
that you can't even stand before this One called God? Here is
the comfort. This One who is so holy. This
One who is perfect in every way. This One who made everything
just by speaking the Word, thinking the thought. All things were
created by Him. He who knew no sin was made sin. that we would be made righteous
in Him. That's our only comfort. That's
got to be the message every time. Our Lord doesn't use anything
that we do to comfort us. How often does He use the things
that we do to bring us down and teach us of the one who does
the comforting? Our Lord and Savior walked perfectly.
He fulfilled the law of God to the fullest. Everything He did
while walking in the flesh pleased the Father, including the stripes
that were laid across His back. That's right. It pleased the
Father to bruise Him. Because when our Lord looks at
His Son and sees the judgment that He laid on His Son's back, He looks at you and I now as
though we were just as clean and perfect as Him. All of our iniquities were laid
on His Son. Every iniquity that we have ever
done, every iniquity that we do this very moment, Iniquity
that we will do until the Lord takes us to be with Him has been
laid on His Son and He now looks on us just as clean and white
as His Son. I don't know about you, but that
blesses me. I don't even understand the depth of that, but I can
see just enough of it that it just blesses me completely. God
can look at me and see perfection. God can look at you and see perfection. Not in anything in that body
that you're walking around in, but in our Savior, the Lord Jesus
Christ. Even the death of the cross,
a cursed tree, cursed is everyone that hangeth on the tree. Wicked
hands were used to put Him on that cruel cross, but it was
by His determinate counsel. It pleased the Father to bruise
Him, but it was by His own determinate counsel that He was there. He
laid down His life for the sheep of God. In our Lord's own words
in John 10, 18, He says, No man taketh it from Me, but I lay
it down Myself. I have power to lay it down.
That's because He's God in the flesh. God the Father, God the Son,
God the Holy Spirit, three distinct persons, yet of one mind. I and the Father are one. If
you have seen Me, you have seen the Father. If you see the Lord
Jesus Christ in these words, you see the true and living God. When you look upon the Son of
the true and living God, you look upon God Himself. He has
power. All power in heaven and earth
are His. Everything was created by Him.
Everything was created for Him. Everything was created to Him. I have power to lay it down,
he says, and I have power to take it again. This commandment
have I received from my father. Turn over to John chapter 14,
please. Our Lord could not be held by
death. Our great captain is conqueror over all, including death. He arose He sits on the throne
of grace, making intercession for all of His elect. He may
not be here in this person right now, but His Spirit will always
be with us, keeping us, comforting us, teaching us, guiding us. Look at verse 16 of chapter 14
of the book of John. And I will pray the Father And
He shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you forever. Even the Spirit of Truth, whom
the world cannot receive, because it seeth Him not, neither knoweth Him, but you
know Him, for He dwelleth with you and shall be in you. I will not leave you comfortless,
I will come to you. Yet a little while, and the world
seeth Me no more, but ye see Me because I live, and ye shall
live also." He lives. You ask me how I know He lives?
He lives within my heart. I know who it is that's pointing
me to the One who created everything. I know who it is that's in my
heart because I remember what my heart used to do. I remember
what my heart used to think. He won't let us forget that pit
that He pulled us out of so that we know who it is that's leading
us to Him. Who it is that's giving us comfort
knowing that He is working all things out for our good. He lives within my heart. This
is my consolation. This is my comfort. This is comforting
news to a poor sinner. Our Savior is in heaven right
now, interceding on our behalf right now. The Spirit of Christ
assures me of this truth, for He is the Spirit of truth and
He is dwelling in my heart. He is the one that guides us
into all truths. And a major truth that brings
great comfort to His people is, there is therefore now no condemnation
to them which are in Christ Jesus. We may see our own sin in our
flesh, but we know that it was laid on our Savior. We know that
when He went to the cross, He accomplished what He was there
for. He didn't go there so that you could be saved. He went there
and saved His people. It is finished. It is done. Stop whatever it is you're trying
to do to help Him. He doesn't need it. For the law of the Spirit of
life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and
death. For what the law could not do,
in that it was weak through the flesh, God, sending His own Son
in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in
the flesh, that the righteous of the law might be fulfilled
in us who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh,
but they that are after the Spirit are the things of the Spirit.
This is the difference, folks, between free will and sovereign
grace. Free will will always point you
to the flesh. And we just read right here where
it says, the things of the flesh do mind the things of the flesh.
But the Spirit will point us to Christ, our Savior, and His
sovereignty over everything. For to be carnally minded is
death. You go through that door marked death and you will walk
in eternity in the gates of hell, the burning fire. But to be spiritually minded
is life, peace, or comfort. Because the carnal mind is enmity
against God, for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed
can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.
But ye are not in the flesh. How can that be, John? Ow. Yeah, that does hurt. My
soul is no longer part of this flesh. It's with the Spirit. The Spirit
of God. My Comforter. You are not in
the flesh, but in the Spirit, and if so, be that the Spirit
of God dwell in you. Turn over to 2 Corinthians chapter
1 if you would. Our subject today is comforting
grace. Where can we find comfort in
times of need? The promises of He who is grace. He who is the Word. The very
Word of God is where we find our comfort. Oh, how often I
can look into the Psalms and find one that is written that
fits the exact state of mind that I might be in as I'm going
through a trial or as I'm going through a tribulation or even
worse as I'm seeing my own weaknesses, as I see my own shortcomings. Those are the hardest tribulations
to go through. I want so bad to stand before
my Lord and not be weak in faith I want to have the strength and
the faith that Abraham had. I want to have the strength and
the faith that all of God's saints have shown throughout Scripture. Lord, point me to You. Console my soul when sin rises
up and afflicts me. Remind me of your word, dear
Lord, where it says, I am yours. And better yet, you are mine. Remind me of how you tell the
Father that this one is yours. How you say to the Father, the
Lord, Father, You have given this one to me before the world
was, and I paid His debt. Comfort me, Lord, with the words
that You have spoken. Comfort me with this knowledge
that You tell the Father that the judgment was poured out on
You, and that You took it to the grave and left it there.
The very judgment that I deserve. The trials of sin in our own
life is what we need comfort most for. When you look upon
this one dear father, see the blood that was shed on the cursed
tree at Calvary, and remember his iniquity no more. Let me leave you with this point. If God is bringing comfort to
us through His gospel, should we not share that very same comfort
with others? Can we not try to comfort others
by telling them of our great God, the ruler over all things, the creator of all things, the
substitute for sinners, the perfect Lamb of God, slain from before
the foundation of the world? Can we not comfort others by
telling them who Jesus Christ the Lord is? Go, tell it on a mountain. Are you with me? In 2 Corinthians, look at chapter
1, verse 2. Grace be to you and peace from
God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, how often I
want to say that to those that I walked past in the world. Blessed be God, even the Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God
of all comfort, who comforted us in all of our
tribulation. that we may be able to comfort
them which are in any trouble by the comfort wherewith we ourselves
are comforted of God. You see someone having trouble
in the world around us? Somebody who's overwhelmed with
all the stuff that's going on? My best friend, a man I've been
friends with since high school, is once again dealing with the
problems of marriage. It's his fourth marriage. And he calls to me and he says,
John, I don't know what to do. I tell you what I do, Mark. And
yes, I'll use his name. I turn to the Lord. My wife is just a human being
as I am. And I love her dearly. But oh,
how often we take those that we love and we put them up on
this pedestal. set them up there so high, and then when they maybe
just slip off a little bit, we turn to them, you know, what
did you do that for? How could you do that to me? Don't you
love me? That's the way the world thinks. Our Lord says to us, Husbands,
love your wives as I have loved you. Now I can't love that perfect. But I do love you as much as
I can. And the Lord reminds me all the
time, John, I went to the cross for your sins. The least you
can do is be forgiving. Be forgiving of this or be forgiving
of that. Can we not teach those and speak
to those around us in the world that we pass? Where is our comfort? Our comfort is in our Savior.
It's not in you. It's not in me. It's not in anyone
else. It's only in my Savior. My Savior, who is the Lord of
all comfort. Comfort me, O Lord, in your Son,
Jesus Christ. Amen.