I trust the Lord for his help
tonight. But he said here in verse 1, Comfort ye, comfort ye my people,
saith your God. Comfort ye, comfort ye my people,
saith your God. Two things I want you to see
as I subject this comfort for the Lord's people. First, he
says, Comfort ye my people. Not everybody. My people. My
people. A fellow told me one time, all
y'all talk about is that you do the Lord's people. You say
you're using God's people all the time. That's what God calls
us. Yeah. He shall bear the iniquities
of my people. Maybe that is life for my people.
And he says, my people. And then look what else he says.
You know who says to do that comfort? My people. Saith your
God. Your God said that. My people,
saith your God. That's enough Christ, enough
comfort for me right there. That does something for me, just
those two statements. My people, saith your God. Comfort, saith your God. The
earth is the Lord's, and the fullness thereof, the whole world.
The heaven is His throne, the earth is His footstool. He reigns
upon this earth. He reigns among the children
of men. The Lord did what He pleased in heaven and the earth
and the seas and all deep places. He's the Lord. But here He says,
after He rules over this whole world, The heaven of heavens
can't contain it. It says here he measures the
nations in a drop of a bucket. Takes all the nations and puts
them in a bathroom. Calcium is just the dust that's on the bathroom.
He says, you take all of Lebanon and every beast in Lebanon. He
could not begin to satisfy me with all of his burnt sacrifices.
And he runs this world. takes care of this world, meets
all the needs of this world, but he says this, my people,
I want you to comfort them, my people. It's a certain number
of people. He says, blessed are those whom
he hath chosen and causes to approach unto him. He calls them
his chosen, he calls them his purchased, bought with the precious
blood of Christ. calls them his peculiar people.
He passes by nations, said they're just a drop in the bucket. Multitudes
and multitudes and multitudes of people. He passes by them by the billions. And here he says, my people,
my people. with his property, with his peculiar
treasure. You keep this and look with me
in Deuteronomy 32, just a moment. Deuteronomy 32, verse 9. You know, everything belongs
to him. Everything belongs to the Lord. The clouds are the
dust of his feet. You read Job 37, 38, 37, 38,
39 through there and how he describes how he controls the world and
everything in it, how he feeds and cares for everything. And
you see that everything in this world is under his control. He
looks at all these nations, everybody, you know America is a wonderful
nation, wonderful nation, glorious nation, blessed of God. We get
a lump in our throat and pride in our hearts when we see the
flag fly and we pledge allegiance to it. But God says, that nation, America,
He said, is just nothing. Less than nothing. It's vanity
to me. When He considers His greatness
and His glory and everything that's been in this world and
ever will be, He said, just vanity of nothing. And then He turns
around and says, but listen, I've got a people. I've got a
people on this earth that I'm interested in. I care for it. I chose them. I elected them.
They're mine. They're mine. I chose them before
they ever existed. I chose them. And look what he
said here in Deuteronomy 32 and 9. For the Lord's portion is
His people. You know, God passed out, you
know, He gives this nation, He sets the bounds of this and that
nation and another nation. And he divided to Israel all
their lot. He said, you know what my lot
is? You know what I want? You know what I take to be my
lot? He said, my people. You take
everything else, give me my people. You take the land, give me my
people. You take the mountains, give me my people. And look what
he says here. Jacob is the lot of his inheritance. It's the supplant, the one we
talked about Sunday night, or Sunday morning. And oh, everything
belongs to Him, and yet He talks about His chosen. And He's done
more for them than all the other people on the earth. He bought
them, and then He brought them to Himself and set His heart
upon them. And that's why He says back over
here in our text, He says, go and you proclaim, behold, you're
God. Your God, behold Him. And He
says there, O Zion, in verse 9, that bring us good tidings.
Get up to the mountain, O Jerusalem, that bring us good tidings. And
Jerusalem's the church, the Lord's people, that bring us good tidings. Lift up your voice with strength,
lift it up, be not afraid. Say unto the cities of Judah,
Behold your God. Behold, listen here, behold the
Lord your God will come with a strong hand, and His arms shall
rule for Him. His arm, what's his arm? Christ
is his own right arm. Christ is his right hand. That's
the arm of his strength. And look, behold, his reward
is with him. What reward is he talking about?
He's talking about bringing Christ in grace, in the blood, in the
lamb, bringing us salvation. He that cometh to God must believe
He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently Christ
brought His reward with Him. He brought salvation with Him.
He brought everything we need with Him. He brought grace, we
need grace. We've replenished everything
that we needed, Christ brought with Him. And He gave it to us,
it's like He's giving us a reward. And we didn't have a reward coming.
And we'll see that in a minute. And then look what else He says
here. And He's worked before, and He's going to do His work
before we get the reward. He rewards us for the work He's
done. And oh look, and this is what He said in verse 11, 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 you. My people, my people, can you
by faith put yourself in this number? My people, Can you say,
as Thomas did, my Lord and my God? Can you read your title
clear? Written with the precious blood
of the Lamb? Can you read your title clear?
Can you say, I'm accepted in the Beloved? Oh, God's full of
character, His people. And He says, comfort you, my
people. He says comfort that one that's got a tear in their
eye. Comfort that one that's got a broken heart. Comfort that
one that's got an aching heart. Comfort that one that's got a
burden that just feels like it's going to crush them. Comfort
that one who just lost a loved one. Comfort that one who's going
through the greatest trial that they've ever dreamed and never
dreamed that they'd have to go through. He says, comfort you,
comfort you, my people. Whatever their need, whatever
their heart, whatever's in their life. He says, you comfort them. You comfort them. Comfort you,
my people. And oh, who is it that God sends
here? He says, comfort you, my people.
Who's He going to use to comfort them? What is He going to use
to comfort them? We know that the scriptures tell
us the Holy Spirit is the Comforter. When He, the Spirit, the Comforters
come. The Comforters come. Call Him
a Comforter. He'll guide you. He'll comfort
you. And He alone can comfort the heart of God's dear children.
But He uses instruments in this world. And I'll tell you one
thing that God uses, and one, I should say, I don't know how to say it, not
preach it, but let's say it this way. He uses his angels to comfort
his people, to comfort God's people. Now, there are spirits
in this world. The scriptures are plain about
that. There's evil spirits. And we complain often about their
power over us. You know, in Revelations, he's
called the great dragon that stood with his mouth open to
consume. the seed of the woman, that man-child
that was born. He called that Halyon. Peter
says, your adversary, the devil, has a roaring rhyme, goes about
to divide whom he will. And he had a, you know, he stood
before God and he said, I'm looking for something to decide. I'm
looking for somebody to trouble. And O Beloved, and I tell you,
there are set to be ministering spirits, and you don't have to
look at this, I'll read it to you. But over in Hebrews chapter
1 and verse 14 it says this, Hebrews 1, 13 and 14 it says,
But to which of the angels said he at any time, said on my right
hand, Until I make thine enemies thy footstool? Are they not all
ministering spirits set forth to minister for them who shall
be heirs of salvation? Oh, that's why He sent these
spirits for heirs of our salvation. And I tell you, beloved, that
we have angels sent to strengthen us. We have angels sent to encourage
us. You go through the Scriptures.
How many times has it said, the angels of the Lord encampeth
around about them, that fear Him. And the Scriptures told
that our Lord Jesus Christ. You know what He told a bunch
one time? He says, don't you despise one of these little ones.
He says, you know why? Because their angels do always
behold their Father's face, which is in heaven. And so we have
angels. You remember when Michael came
to Daniel. They were disputing about the
body of Moses. And they were arguing about it.
Michael the archangel came to Daniel. and told him what God said, wow
this dispute didn't amount to anything and God sent Michael
to comfort him, the prince of the angels and then Gabriel was
the angel that came with the message to marry him and oh beloved
God says He said I'll send my angels before thy face to divide
them that come at you He sends angels, angels to fight our battles
Angels to destroy armies. You remember the Assyrian army
that was encamped around Israel? They got up one morning, they
said, we're over, we ain't gonna live through this. They got up
one morning and there was dead people all along as far as I
could see. 85,000 people, them angels killed
that night. And they were just fixing to start eating their
own flesh, and they were starving to death. And they went out there
and 85,000 dead men, they went out there and looted them, had
more food and things than they know what to do. Oh, the angels
of the Lord, they fought our battles. And that's what he says,
you know, and it was angels that carried lambs.
away. And he said he's going to send
angels to gather his elect from the four winds. And I tell you
a lot, you remember this, you remember when Israel, Assyria, the king of
Assyria kept saying, somebody's a bird in my house, a little
bird telling everything that I do. Because Israel, they go,
when I go after them, they're gone. When I go after them, they're
gone. And they said, there's a prophet over there named Elisha.
He's the one doing that. He said, well, I tell you what,
we'll fix him. And they got the whole army together and surrounded
him. And oh, he got going. Gehazi,
his servant, got up that morning. He walked out there. He'd seen
all them chariots and all them horses and all them armies. And
he ran back. He said, oh, that's the master.
Oh, what are we going to do? Look, look, look, look, look.
And oh, Elisha just bowed his head and said, Lord, open his
eyes that he may see. looked up his eyes and then he
saw a greater army than that. The angels of the Lord, the chariot
of fire had already had him surrounded. Oh, and you remember it was angels.
It was angels that opened the door to let Peter out of jail. It was angels that took him by
the hand and led him and opened the gates to get him outside.
And Peter, Paul said that night on that ship, he said, this night,
the angel of the Lord has stood behind me. stood by me, and there's
nothing for us to fear. And I'll tell you, he said, I
said, be a good chair. So the Lord, as always, He comforts
His people with angels. I wonder how many times they've
comforted us and we didn't even know they were present. How many
times they've comforted us. Not only are angels used to the
Lord to comfort His people, but preachers. Preachers. They're to comfort the Lord's
people. You read in Revelations that messengers of the church,
they're called the angels of the church. Preachers are called
angels, ministers of the church. Well, how in the world does a
preacher comfort the Lord's people? Does he do it by holding their
hands and sitting by them and babying them and stroking them
and doing everything he can to make them all feel like You know, that they just, you
know, stroking them and doing all the things that they feel
like that, you know, not doing all you possibly can to please
all of them at one time. Is that the way he does it? No. No, I'll tell you the best way
that a preacher can comfort the Lord's people is by preaching
the gospel of grace and preaching gracious doctrine. Preaching
gracious doctrine. You see, there's no comfort in
any other doctrine. There's no comfort in free will
doctrine. There's no comfort in Armenian doctrine. Is there any comfort in free
will Armenian doctrine? Is there any comfort in preaching
that you're a child of God today, and you may fall away and end
up being lost? Is there any comfort in that?
Is there any comfort in being a child of God today? And God
may forsake him, you'll be a child of the devil tomorrow. Is there
any comfort in the preaching of saying, I'm redeemed by the
blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, and yet that blood is not sufficient
to take care of my sins without my actions, without my graces,
without my faith, without my repentance? Is there any comfort
in that kind of a doctrine? Is there any comfort in the doctrine
that my standing before God depends upon me? How I live and how I
act and how I pray? What comfort is there in that?
Is there any comfort in telling that my blessings from God depend
upon what I do? That I can't get a blessing from
Him unless I do certain things? Would there be any comfort in
that? Huh? Oh, God make us preachers. Let
me be a preacher and let you be a preacher, those of you that
are blessed of God to take a service and to show some evidence of
being gifted of God. God make us preachers, comforters
with the gospel of God's dear Son. Let's be like Paul who says,
you know, we preach not ourselves but Christ Jesus the Lord and
our servants for His sake. May I and other preachers who
come here be in the hands of God a delight to your ears with
the gospel of the grace of God. I know meeting on Wednesday night,
I know for years I've tried my best on Wednesday night to come
up with something more for Wednesday night than just about any other
service. I put more time in it, I did. than any other service
in the week because this is the church. These are the people
that are here. And it's what a pleasure to meet
with the Lord's Saints on Wednesday night. They've been working all
day. Some of them don't eat supper
before they come. They've been out in the sun,
they got up early, maybe ain't had no rest, come straight from
work. They're tired and they're weary, and so they got to have
something on Wednesday night, something special on Wednesday
night. I've always tried to do that.
But I remember I was over in North Carolina one time, and
there's a preacher. And I remember this so well.
There's a woman over there, she was a beautician, and she cut
my hair one time when we was in a meeting. And we went back
there two or three years, two or three times later, and she
got cancer. She got breast cancer. And a
young woman, just a couple of babies. Nice husband, had a nice
home. And oh, she got so sick. She
got so sick. And I remember it, and she'd
come to the service. And she'd come in late one time,
trying to get herself together to get there. And the preacher,
before she got to sit down, he said, if you can't be here in
on time, and you disrupt the service, don't come at all. Now this is a gracious church
and a gracious preacher. I visited him and I told him,
I said, that's the wrong thing to do. Henry Mahan told him that's
the wrong thing to do. Don Fortner said that's the wrong
thing to do. And we tried to talk to him. And he asked me
how he should deal with things. And I quoted this verse of scripture
right here. The next message I heard from
him, he was in the service and everybody tells me to comfort
you, comfort you. He says, if you want comfort,
if you come here for me to comfort you, you got to go someplace
else if you want comfort. And they did. And as far as I
know, he's out of the ministry. And he should be. He should be. Don't you think a man like that
ought to be in? If you want comfort. Could you imagine somebody coming
to you for comfort? Somebody come to you with a heart
to take him. Somebody shaking their body.
And you tell them, you know, if you can't be here in on time,
and they're so weak and weary and frightened, if you can't
be on time, go home. I just can't imagine anybody
that knows anything about the grace of God, has any love in
their heart at all, any compassion, treating somebody that way. What
if our Lord Jesus taught us that, treated us like that? What if
He treated me that way today? What if he treated me that way
today, but I got angry, or I got impatient, or I got frustrated? Oh, but oh, listen, and you hear
preachers, and they seem theologically correct, but oh, when they're
preaching, you want to ask, where's the lamb that takes away, like
Isaac asked his father, Father, where's the lamb? Where's that
lamb that God provided? Where's that lamb that takes
away the sin of the world? Where's that lamb whose blood
was shed? Where's that lamb that was nailed
to the tree? Where's that lamb with the blood
put over the door? And God said, when I see the
blood, I'll pass over you. Where's that lamb that come to
save His people from their sin? Where's that lamb? Where's that
lamb? And I'll tell you, beloved, and
I'll tell you when we preach the lamb, And that precious blood
of the Lamb. That Lamb had got that blood
that God said, when I see that blood, I'll pass over you. Oh,
where that blood is! Without it, there's no remission
of sins. He entered in once with His own
blood. John said, behold the Lamb of
God. And old Simon, Peter, and Andrew,
and all the rest of them, they left John and started following
Him. Said, this is that Christ. This is the Lamb. And oh, he
was offered in the time of the evening sacrifice. Oh, we need
a Lamb. And oh, let me as a preacher
set forth the Lamb of God. And then he says, comfort you,
comfort you, my people. Now I want you to see this over
in 2 Corinthians chapter 1. Now I want you to see this here.
Not only can angels comfort the Lord's people, but he uses to
comfort. He uses preachers to comfort the Lord's people. And
all I tell you, beloved, nothing comforts the Lord's people like
the gospel. Nothing feeds them, nothing encourages them, nothing
helps them, nothing makes them ready for 2 Corinthians chapter
1. Nothing helps them, nothing meets
their needs more than the gospel of the grace of God and gracious
doctrine. Angels and preachers, but look what he says here. Comfort
ye my people, saith your God. And he says, my people are to
comfort one another. Look what he said here in verse
3, 2 Corinthians 1. Blessed be God, even the Father,
of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God
of all comfort. Oh, the God of all comfort. All
comfort. Listen to what he says now. Who
comforts us in all our tribulation. He does. He does. We go to Him. We go to Him. First place we go for comfort,
we go to Him. We go to Him. And He'll calm us down, quiet
us down. And then look what He says. And
He comforts us in all our tribulations, in all our trials, in all our
troubles, that we may be able to comfort them which are in
any trouble. And if you've been in trouble,
and some of you have, you find it easy and want to, when you
see somebody in trouble, to try to comfort them. You go out of your way to comfort
them, and that's what he says. And he says, by them which are
in any trouble, and you do it by the comfort where we with
ourselves are comforting God. Ever have God comforted you?
He says, you go and try to comfort them. Comfort them. And oh beloved, if you tasted
that the Lord is gracious, be gracious. Tell of His wondrous,
wondrous dealings with you. When you're up, help them that
are down. When you're sad and weak, go
find somebody that's full of joy and strength to get you comfort. And oh, go to those that you
know when you're down, go to somebody's son. When you're weak,
find somebody that's strong. When you're sad, find somebody
that's happy. Don't just wallow in it and stay
in it. Go to that great comfort of souls
and ask for His comfort. And then go and comfort somebody
else. Why did God say comfort you,
my people? Why did He do that? I tell you
the first reason is, is because He loves them. He loves them. When you love somebody, and you
really love them, you want them to be comforted. You want them
to be comfortable. You want them to be at ease as
much as they can be. Much is in your power to do it.
And God, He says, comforts you, my people, sayeth your God. And
He does that. And He assures. And He does this
because He loves them with an everlasting love. And how does
He comfort us more than any other way? If I cause his sin his son,
that's the greatest comfort I have, is knowing that I, Lord Jesus
Christ, bore my sin in his own body on that tree, that he renders
satisfaction to the strict justice of God, and God will never, ever,
ever reject me under any circumstances, because my sins are gone, and
God has not ought against me right now. Because God showed
us and proved and manifested His love for us in that He sent
His own Son to be that victim, to be that sacrifice, to be that
mercy seed, to be that atoning blood for our sins. And oh beloved,
nothing more comforting to know that your sins are gone. And
then back over in our text, let me show you this. Look what He
said here. Verse 2. Oh, here's why God comforts
His people. Here's how He comforts them.
He says, Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her
that her work is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned.
For she hath received of the Lord's hands double for all her
sins. Oh, when it says, look in the
margins, speak ye comfortably, He says, speak to the heart.
Isaiah 40 and verse 2. Speak ye comfortably, speak to
the heart, speak to the heart, to Jerusalem. Paul made it very
plain in the Old Testament Scriptures too, that that heavenly Jerusalem,
the church which is above, heavenly Jerusalem, the church of the
firstborn, Jerusalem was considered the church, the city of God's
place. And then look what he says, and then crying to her,
crying to her and tell her that her work for her is accomplished.
And that warfare means appointed time, her appointed time is accomplished. Listen, what does it mean that
our warfare is accomplished? Her appointed time is over. The
time of captivity. The time that we were slaves
to sin. The time that we were held in bondage to sin. The time
that justice wouldn't let us go. Then look what he says, that's
been accomplished. And here's what was accomplished
now. That her iniquity is pardoned. Blessed is the man to whom the
Lord imputed not iniquity. Huh? Oh Lord, who should be able
to stand? If thou wouldst mark iniquities,
who'd be able to stand? But there's forgiveness with
thee, that thou mayest be feared. And there's plenteous redemption
with you. And oh, crying to her, and then
her iniquities part. Oh my, that's why Paul, you know,
Paul says we'll reconcile to God. God forgives us all, we
are reconciled. God has reconciled us to himself
by the blood of Christ. No condemnation to them that
are in Christ Jesus. And then look what else he says
here. For she hath received of the Lord now. This is from the
Lord now. She hath received of the Lord's
hand double for all her sins. Double for all her sins, twice
as much for her sins, as much as her sins deserve. And oh my! What does he mean
when he talks about double, receiving double? Anybody have any idea
what that means, receiving double for her sins? You know, he says, I've come
that you might have life and have it more abundantly, all
abundant, overflowing life. And I'm going to tell you how
we receive double for our sins. I believe this is right. First
of all, we receive punishment for it. Just as Christ was punished for
our sins. Punished for it. Paid for it. Over and done with. That's done. We have sins we're paid for in
that sense. And then he turns around and doubles down on it
by saying this, I'm going to reward them as if they did it
themselves, and they have never had a sin all their life, and
I'm going to reward them as if they did it themselves. Huh? He treats you like you've
never committed a sin in your life. He paid for them, and then
he turned around and treats you like You never had any son of
his! Oh, oh, does that make any sense
to you? Oh, and that's what he says,
and that's what he meant when he said he's rewarded with him,
and his works before him. And oh, and then look what he
says, he sends some preachers, and one of them says the voice
of him in verse 3, the voice of him that cries in the wilderness,
prepare you the way of the Lord. What does it mean to prepare
the way of the Lord? That means describe Christ as
He is. Christ is not coming where people
don't know who He is. You prepare the way of the Lord,
and I tell you what, and this is what's going to happen when
the Lord comes. There's going to be a straight, straight, straight
road that our Lord will walk on, and we'll walk behind Him.
And every valley is going to be lifted up. You won't have
to go down in them valleys. You're going to lift them up.
Every mountain is going to be made down into a little hill
and made low so it goes straight. And the crooked is going to be
made straight and the rough places made plain. Is it not right in
which the way the Lord leads us? Huh? And listen to this,
the glory of the Lord shall be revealed in all flesh. What flesh? My people's flesh. We're talking about my people
now, he's not talking about everybody. My, and all flesh will see it
together. And how do we know it's true?
For the mouth of the Lord has spoken it. Oh my. And he said to comfort his people,
because uncomfortable believers, uncomfortable Christians, dishonor
true religion. Murmuring, complaining, going around like you lost your
best friend all the time. You see, the gospel lifts us
up. He said, oh, you feeble, with the feeble knees, stand
up straight. With the hanging hands, lift up, lift them up,
lift them up. And the gospel, the gospel is
the only thing that can lift them up. And I'll tell you this,
I don't practice this, but I tell you it's good for all of us to
hear. If you're sad, if you're down, you show it to the family, but
don't let the world see it. The family can see it. The family
knows when you're sad. The family knows when you're
troubled. But don't let nobody outside
the family know. Do you know what I'm saying?
Don't let them out there see it. Let's just keep it in the
family. And I tell you, God has given
us something to comfort His people with and to comfort one another
with. We're not like this from making
bricks without straw. You know what we can comfort
the Lord's people with and ourselves with? God's electing grace. God's electing grace to be chosen
of God. For God to say, that's mine? Well, Lord, I ain't different
than nobody else. I know you're not, but you're
mine. I'm so sinful, you're mine. Look under the rock from which
you hood. Look under the pit from which
you dug. Tell them about the covenant of love. When David
lay in his last words of sweet psalms to Israel, you know what
they were? Here's a man that committed adultery. Here's a
man that committed murder. Here's a man that was even still
God's citizen, and on his dying bed, His last words, you know what
they were? The Lord hath made with me an
everlasting covenant, ordered and all things ensured. This is all my salvation. Now that will comfort you, won't
it? Judah, behold your God. And you look what God has done
for His people down through history. Israel was slaves, and He brought
them up out of Egypt and made them a great nation. Some of
the most famous people that's ever been in this world come
from Israel, God's people. David, Moses, Elijah, Elisha,
Isaiah, famous Solomon, Hezekiah, Famous, famous people. Abraham. Oh, then, oh, look what he did
for Daniel. Oh, he did a bunch of months of lies, and all them
lies would eat him alive. And, oh, the king comes in. Oh,
Daniel, what's up? Daniel was sound asleep, laying
on the line. The king had to wake him up. took Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego
and threw them in a furnace and those fellers that threw them
in there, it killed them. It was so hot that it killed
them who put them in there. And they got to looking. I thought we put three in there.
And they ain't gone. There's another one in there
with them. Every time we're in the furnace, our Lord Jesus Christ
is in there with them. And they let that fire die down
in that furnace. And everyone that walked in there,
they didn't have smoke on their clothes. Huh? Oh my. And I'll tell you what. And then what has He done for
us? What has He done for us in our lives? What has He done for
us in our lives? How many times has He saved us?
How many times has He saved? And then our present mercies.
Can you count the Lord's present mercies? Can you count? The Lord Jesus,
here's what a mercy this is, what a blessing, what a comfort,
that the Lord Jesus sits right now at the right hand of the
Father, and He takes up every one of our cases and causes,
and He can be touched with the feelings of our impermanence.
And not only that, not only that, but look over here in Isaiah
49, let me just show you that. I'm sure this is where it's at. Yes, this is it. Not only that,
you're talking about a way to comfort the Lord's people. Look
what he said here in Isaiah 49, 16. Behold, I have craven thee upon
the palms of my hands. He's got us written on His hands. And when we get to glory, we'll
see the cravings on His hands. We'll see him and we'll look
at him and say, my name's right there. My name's right there. Who I am is right there. Everything
that was against me was right there. And he wrote my name on
his hands in those scars. Everyone. Written there. And
everyone for whom He died for. Man's right in there. Right in
there. And you know what He does when
we do sin? And I'll quit. When we do sin,
and we go to the Lord, do you know what Christ pleads? He does
not plead anything about us. Not one word about us. He says, Their names are right here. Okay,
son. Alright. I'm going to treat them
like you. Oh, but now let me tell you this.
If you're not God's people, if you're not one of my people,
there's no comfort for you. Just condemnation and just guilt. If you never believed in Christ
and fled to Him, there'd be no comfort. There's comfort for His people.
Can you say, I'm one of His? Our Father, our Lord Jesus, our
Savior, our God, Thank you for your great and abundant mercies
tonight. Oh, how kind, how gracious, how patient, how loving. Thank
you for the strength in the hour of need. Thank you for the grace
that's always sufficient. Thank you for the strength for
the day. God bless these dear saints. May everyone in this
building tonight be able to say, my people, I'm one of his people.
We ask you these great blessings and thank you for these great
mercies and blessings in Christ Jesus, our Lord's name. Amen.
Amen. O how merciful, how merciful,
precious Lord, how merciful Thou art to me. O how merciful, merciful. Blessed Lord, how merciful
Thou art to me. See you Sunday morning. God willing.