Welcome to Reign of Grace. This
program is brought to you by Reign of Grace Media Ministries,
an outreach ministry of Eager Avenue Grace Church in Albany,
Georgia. It is our pleasure and privilege
to present to you the gospel message of the sovereign grace
and glory of God in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. We pray that today's program
will be a blessing to you. Thank you for listening. And
now for today's program. Welcome to our program today.
I'm glad you could join us. And if you'd like to follow along
in your Bibles, I'll be preaching from the book of Isaiah in the
Old Testament, Isaiah, the prophet from chapter 40, Isaiah 40. And the title of the message
is the double cure, the double cure. And that's from Isaiah
chapter 40 in verse, verse two, where it says, talking about,
uh, the salvation of God's people, how when God saves us, we receive
of his hand double for all our sins. So the double cure. Now, if I were to ask you concerning
the issue of salvation, What exactly do we need to be saved
from? How would you answer that question? Well, a lot of people would maybe
have some different answers. Somebody might say, well, I need
to be saved from poverty. I'm a poor person. Somebody might
say, I need to be saved from sickness. I don't have good health. Others may take it beyond the
physical and say, I need to be saved from death. I need to be
saved from hell. But if you want to cover every
ailment, spiritual and physical, that the natural man, fallen,
sinful, ruined man, we fell in Adam and were brought into a
state of sin and death. The one thing that we all need
to be saved from is that little word S-I-N, sin. I need to be saved from sin.
Sin is the source and the cause of all the problems of mankind. The Bible talks about death being
the consequence of sin. The wages of sin is death. The
soul that sinneth must surely die. And I've often said on this
program, and I say it quite a bit from the pulpit here at Eager
Avenue Grace Church, that if God were to ever judge me based
upon my best efforts to please Him and to serve Him, then I
would be damned forever because I'm a sinner. And so sinners
need to be saved from sin. The Bible says of Jesus Christ,
who is the Savior, it talks about the wages of sin is death. The
gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ, our Lord. And that
salvation is by grace. It's not based upon your works
or your efforts or your decisions. It's based upon what Christ accomplished. But it says of the Lord Jesus
Christ in Matthew chapter one and verse 21, when the angel
speaking to Joseph concerning Mary being with child. And he
told Joseph, he said, don't put Mary away for that which is in
her womb is a miracle, miracle conception. He said it's that
seed that was was sown in her womb by the power of the Holy
Ghost, the Holy Spirit. And he says, and she shall bring
forth a child, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he shall
save his people from their sins. You see, that name Jesus means
salvation. God, our salvation. What does
he save us from? He saves us from sin. And to
be saved from sin is to have eternal life. And it is to be
saved from sickness and from death and from poverty. Now that's not to say like some
of these health and wealth false prophets are telling you. that
if you put your faith in Christ, your bank account will grow and
all your ales will be cured and all of that. That's a false message. Now, don't get me wrong. I mean,
God does sometimes bless his people with large bank accounts. Sometimes he doesn't. God sometimes
does bless his people with physical health and sometimes he doesn't. That's up to his sovereign purpose
and will for his glory and the good of his people. But when
salvation comes, I know most preachers would say this, they
say, when you get saved, I don't like that language, it's not
scriptural. You don't get saved, God saves his people. But when
salvation comes to a sinner, there's no guarantee that they'll
be healthy and wealthy physically in this life. And there's nothing
in the Bible that says, well, if you have faith enough, your
bank account will grow. Or if you have enough faith,
you'll be cured of all physical ailments. No. You see, it is
appointed unto man once to die. And after that, to judgment,
we're all going to die. And somebody said, well, what
if I'm alive when Christ comes back? Well, you're going to suffer
the equivalent of death because this corruptible, the Bible says
that this corruptible, this corruptible physical body must put on incorruption. This mortal, this body of death
must put on immortality. We have to be changed, the Bible
says in 1 Corinthians 15, in the twinkling of an eye. and
we'll have new bodies, not these old bodies. I don't want to exist
in eternity in this frail body. Paul called himself the wretched
man, Romans 7, 24. Who shall deliver me from this
body of death? And I thank God through Jesus
Christ our Lord. So we need to be saved from sin.
And that's what Isaiah the prophet is talking about here. And this
passage is a prophecy. of the coming of Christ into
the world. And I'll show you that if you
look at verse one of Isaiah 40. He starts out, he says, comfort
ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. Speak comfort. Verse two, 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. Now, when he says speak
comfortably, this may seem a little bit odd to people because you
know the prophets, including Isaiah, they were often looked
at and characterized as prophets of doom. And the reason for that
is that they most often pronounce God's judgment against Jerusalem
and against Israel and against Judah for their sins. And Isaiah
did that. He spoke of the coming destruction
of Jerusalem, the coming destruction of the temple, claiming that
God in a later time, that he was going to bring down an army
from the north And that came true in the Babylonian armies,
Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonian armies, that God was gonna bring
an army down from the north, and that he was gonna pronounce
judgment on Israel, judgment on Judah, and they were gonna
go into captivity. And that took place later on
in the days of Jeremiah, at the end of Jeremiah's prophecy. Jeremiah
was looked at as a prophet of doom. And it was always told
to the people of Israel, to the people of Judah, to the people
of Jerusalem, that God's gonna punish you for your sins, for
your rebellion, for your idolatry. They broke the covenant, the
old covenant, the Mosaic law, they broke it. And God was gonna
punish them. But because of God's promise
to Abraham, And because of God's glory and purpose, He always
kept that nation together, even in their captivity. And that's
an amazing thing. You know, back during those barbaric
days, you know, when nations were destroyed, they were gone.
Ancient civilizations, they were pretty much gone. Very few lasted.
And none of them lasted as an empire, but In all of their rebellion
and all the judgments that God brought down on Israel, God,
by His sovereign purpose and power, held them together as
a nation, especially the tribe of Judah, because God had promised
Abraham that the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ, the salvation
of His people, both Jew and Gentile, would come through Christ, the
Lord Jesus Christ, the Messiah. And so while Isaiah is pronouncing
all of these judgments upon Israel, he comes to a point here in chapter
40 where the Lord instructs him to speak comfortably. But the
comfort that he speaks to them is not about their physical well-being. It's not about their being physically
blessed that, oh, God's gonna make you a great nation. He's
going to give you all kinds of wealth and power, armies, a good
kingdom. It's not about that. Because
that was not gonna come about. They were gonna be punished.
So what comfort is there that the prophet can pronounce to
such people? Well, it's the comfort of eternal
salvation, spiritual life, salvation from sin that can only come God's
way by His grace through the promised Messiah. And here's
what Isaiah is telling them. Now look, your hope, your comfort,
and your peace, and your salvation cannot be in yourself. It cannot be in this earthly
land. the promised land. Your hope,
your comfort, your peace, your salvation cannot be in your earthly
numbers. It cannot be based upon your
physical obedience because you're a rebellious people. And what
he's telling Jerusalem, what he's telling the people, The
only comfort and peace and hope and salvation you can have is
not by looking to the nation Israel, not by looking to yourself,
but by looking ahead to the promised Messiah, looking to Christ. Now you say, well, that doesn't
make sense to me. Well, now you hold on, I'm gonna read some
more scripture. But let me tell you something, that has always
been the only true, eternal, spiritual salvation and comfort
for God's people from the fall of Adam up through the 1500 years
that Israel existed under the old covenant, up through the
New Testament today, and it'll always be. There's only one,
one in whom we're going to find eternal, spiritual, comfort,
peace, hope, salvation, and that's in Christ. That's based upon
what Christ, who He is, and what He would accomplish. Now look
back at our text, Isaiah 40. Look at verse one again. Comfort
ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. Speak ye comfortably. Now if you have a concordance,
it might say speak to the heart. And that might be a good translation,
sometimes some things vary. But what he's talking about there
is the regenerate heart, the person who's been born again,
who will receive this message, because that's the only ones
that's gonna be a comfort too. Those who've been convinced of
their sins and their depravity, their deservedness of judgment
and condemnation. So speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem,
cry unto her that her warfare is over. Her warfare is accomplished. Now what kind of warfare is he
talking about? The warfare against sin. Look
at it. That her iniquity is part. What is iniquity? That's where
we don't balance out. We don't measure up. God's law
requires perfect righteousness, perfect holiness. We don't balance
the scales. We fall short. You see, we're
sinners. And if the scale of righteousness,
if we're measured by the scale of righteousness, we'll be doomed
in ourselves, by our works. The Bible says in Acts 17, 31,
that God has appointed a day in the which he will judge the
world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained in
that he has given assurance unto all men and that he hath raised
him from the dead. You see, I need righteousness.
In order to be saved from my sins, I have to be made righteous. I cannot be righteous by anything
I do or anything I decide. I can only be made righteous
by the Lord Jesus Christ and what He accomplished for me as
my surety, my substitute, my redeemer on the cross, His obedience
unto death. The Bible says in Romans 10 and
verse 4, for Christ is the end of the law, the fulfillment,
the perfection of the law for righteousness to everyone that
believeth. So he's saying that for those
who, he's not pronouncing a blanket pardon here. This pardon is for
those who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. It's not for those
who don't believe. Christ did not die for all without
exception to make salvation possible if they would just cooperate.
This is not some blanket pardon. He said that her iniquity is
pardoned. Who is the Jerusalem here? Jerusalem means city of peace.
It's those with whom God is at peace, not at war. And there
are people who God has sent the Savior down
to save and to accomplish their warfare, it's over, it's finished,
her warfare against sin. And he says, her iniquity is
pardoned. And it says, for she hath received,
verse two, of the Lord's hand. Now see that? She's received
not of her own hand, not by her own works, but she has received
of the Lord's hand double for all her sins. Now, what is that
double cure? There's the double cure. Well,
first of all, think about it this way, and I often use this analogy to understand the ground
of salvation, the ground upon which God justifies a person. Now, what is it to be justified?
Well, that's the double cure. Number one is to be forgiven
of all my sins. All my sins have been washed
away. They've been purged away. My
sins cannot be charged to me. Now, why is that? Okay, that's
the first part of that cure. But secondly, I have actually
and truly been made righteous in the sight of God. so that
God receives and accepts me and blesses me with all spiritual
blessings. Now, how did that all come about? Well, it's of
the Lord's hand. Now, who is the Lord's hand?
That means the Lord's power. That means the Lord's work. That
often, it means the arm of the Lord. That means his arm, his
power. In other words, it's not by your
power or my power, not by my work or your work, it's the Lord's.
Well, who's he talking about? Well, look at verse three. He
says, now listen to this very carefully, don't miss this. The
voice of him that crieth in the wilderness. Does that sound familiar
to you? You who read the Bible? Prepare
ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway
for our God. That is a way to God. Verse four,
every valley shall be exalted, all the low places, every mountain,
the low places, the valleys, that represents despondency,
depression over sin. Every mountain and hill shall
be made low. That represents pride and self-righteousness. They're gonna be brought down.
The crooked shall be made straight and the rough places plain. You
see there's a work of perfection here. Verse five. And the glory of the Lord shall
be revealed and all flesh shall see it together. Now that's not
talking about everybody without exception. That's talking about
God's elect out of every tribe, kindred, tongue, and nation,
not just the Jews. For the mouth of the Lord hath
spoken it. Verse 6, the voice said, Cry, and he said, What
shall I cry? Now listen, this is quoted in
the New Testament in 1 Peter 1 concerning the gospel. All flesh is grass, all the godliness
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. And verse eight, the grass withereth,
the flower fadeth, but the word of our God shall stand forever.
Now you know who that's talking about? That's talking about Christ.
It's talking about Jesus Christ in the glory of his person. In him shall all the fullness
of the Godhead dwell. In Him, bodily, the fullness
of the Godhead dwells, and you're complete in Him. He is God, man
without sin. Every bit God, every bit man
without sin. Now that's what it took for Him
to bring about this double cure for all my sins. He had to die
to put away my sins. Now remember I said the first
part of that double cure, here's part number one. My sins are
washed away. Now, how are they washed away?
By the blood of Jesus Christ. Now, that's why He had to become
a man. That's why He had to be the Word made flesh without sin
now. He wasn't a sinful man like I
am, like you are, a sinful man or a sinful woman. He was a sinless
sacrifice, the Lamb of God without spot and without blemish. And
God charged the sins of his people, imputed them, that's the word
the Bible uses. He imputed the sins, the debt,
the penalty of the sins of his people to Christ. The Bible says
it this way in 2 Corinthians 5.21, he was made sin. Now he
wasn't made something like a filthy mass of sin or anything like
that. He was, the sins of God's elect
Christ's sheep, the church, that's who they are, all who come to
faith in Christ were imputed, charged, reckoned to Christ.
He took their sin debt and he went to the cross and paid the
penalty in full by his death. And it was an infinite sacrifice. In three days time, he suffered
the equivalent of an eternal death. for His people. And it's
because of who He is. God in human flesh. Now the death
is to be attributed to His humanity, but it was an act of His entire
person. And that's mind-boggling. But
He washed away my sins. He paid the debt. He satisfied
the justice of God for my sins. So that my sins cannot be charged
to me. Now that's a comfortable message.
Comfort ye, comfort ye, my people. Your warfare is over. You don't
have to pay for your sins. Christ has already paid for them. That's to believers now. That's
not just to everyone without exception, as preachers say today.
No, sir. It's all who believe in him.
But there's a second part to this cure, the double cure. And
that is, by the merits of His obedience unto death, Christ
brought forth an everlasting righteousness, perfect satisfaction
to God's justice, a righteousness that equals the demands of God's
law, that is imputed, charged, accounted to His people. My sins
were imputed to Him. His righteousness is imputed
to me. Again, 2 Corinthians 5.21, for He was made sin, for us, Christ who knew no sin,
that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. I stand before
God, righteous, forgiven of all my sins, washed away, washed
clean from all my sins legally. I'm still a sinner in myself,
but my sins are washed away. What can wash away my sins? Nothing
but the blood of Jesus. You say, well, what about our
continual sins? Well, they've been imputed to Him too, and
He paid the penalty for them. And He ever lives, making intercession
for His people. Jesus Christ the righteous. When
we sin, we have an advocate with the Father. He stands in my place. Now, in whose place does He stand? For whom did He make this double
cure? For all who come to faith in Him, who are brought by God
and given the gift of faith and the gift of repentance. And this
is what happens, see, when we realize that the double cure
has come by the Lord's hand in Christ, by His grace, that reigns
through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.
We believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. We rest in Him for all
salvation, for all forgiveness, for all righteousness, and we
repent. of thinking, ever thinking that
there's anything we could do or could have done to put away
our sins or make us righteous. We repent of our dead works,
our fruit unto death, and we look to Christ as the author
and finisher of our faith. Now this is how Christ is the
double cure. This is how Christ is the comfort
of his people. He's often called the consolation
of Israel. That means the comfort of Israel.
The Israel there is spiritual Israel. The church, all who are
brought by God to faith in Christ and repentance of dead works.
All who walk by faith in Him, who walk according to the Spirit,
looking to, resting in the Lord Jesus Christ for the cure, the
double cure. That's what it's all about. There's
an old chorus that we used to sing. Did you hear what Jesus
said to me? My sins are taken away. They're
all taken away. Your sins are pardoned and you're
free. They're all taken away. How are they taken away? I still
sin every day. I have to fight sin. I war against
sin. God cannot impute them to me
legally. And one day, because of this
double cure, One day, even the presence, influence, and power
of sin that still dwells within my flesh will be totally taken
away, and I'll be with the Father in Christ in glory. That's the
assurance. You see, the double cure now
is the assurance of the complete cure as sin is totally eradicated
from my life in my death. as I go to be with the Lord.
That's what the whole thing is about. Now, you know that verse
three in Isaiah 40, that's the words of John the Baptist. 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. And what did John the Baptist
do? Well, John the Baptist was the last of the Old Testament
prophets. And when he came, it was foretold
that when he would get, it was foretold in several passages,
but in Malachi, I think of right offhand, how he would come and
he would usher in the time of the Messiah when Christ would
come to this earth and walk this earth as the substitute of his
people and obey unto death, even the death of the cross, to bring
about the double cure. of all our sins. Sins are taken
away. Sins are washed away. Sins are
purged away. By one offering He hath perfected
forever them that are sanctified. This is the work. This is the
hand of the Lord. This is the work of the Lord.
It's the grace of God that is accomplished by His glory which
is Christ the Lord. Hope you'll join us next week
for another message from God's Word. We are glad you could join us
for another edition of Reign of Grace. This program is brought
to you by Reign of Grace Media Ministries, an outreach ministry
of Eager Avenue Grace Church in Albany, Georgia. To receive
a copy of today's program or to learn more about Reign of
Grace Media Ministries or Eager Avenue Grace Church, write us
at 1-1-0-2-3. Eager Drive, Albany, Georgia
31707. Contact us by phone at 229-432-6969
or email us through our website at www.theletterofgrace.com. Thank you again for listening
today and may the Lord be with you.