Turn, if you would, to Isaiah
chapter 40. Isaiah chapter 40. Have you ever sought comfort
amongst friends or amongst family and not really found true comfort? Tried to sometimes comfort you,
but there's only really one place
that you will find comfort. And I like to talk about true
comfort, true comfort. Now, we live in a world of woe,
don't we? We do, we live in a world full
of trials and tribulations for the believer, and sometimes Sometimes things
can go smoothly and sometimes things are harder. And I love
the scripture that John read this morning on Ecclesiastes
3 because we see that there's a time for certain things. And always remember that these
times are in God's hands. They're in the hands of our great
God. Look at Isaiah 40, verses 1-9. Comfort ye my people, saith your
God. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem,
and cry unto her that her warfare is accomplished, and that her
iniquity is pardoned. For she hath received of the
Lord's hand double for all her sins. 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 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 God shall stand forever, forever. O Zion, that's the church, that
bringeth good tidings, get thee up into the high mountain. O
Jerusalem, that bringeth good tidings, lift up thy voice with
strength, lift it up. Be not afraid. Say unto the cities
of Judah, behold your God. Behold your God. Or look at these nine verses,
and oh what a comfort these nine verses are to God's people. They
are balm to the soul of a believer. Balm precious to us. And I pray
that God, the Holy Spirit, will make these words a comfort to
our souls. It says, comfort ye my people,
saith your God. In verse one, the one who is
speaking here is the Lord of hosts. The one who is speaking
here is Jehovah, the self-existent one. And he says, comfort ye,
comfort ye my people. Notice that, my people, my people. God's people are called the Lord's
people. He says they're my people, they're
mine. And he's speaking to prophets,
preachers, pastors, teachers, all who are bond servants of
the Lord. And what is his command to them?
Comfort ye my people. Comfort ye my people. And oh,
how we need to be comforted. We are a needy people, beloved.
We are a needy people, aren't we? We need to be comforted in
this world. So many want to rebuke and reprove
or correct. And there's a time for all those
things, beloved. But here, our precious God, He
commands, He commands pastors, teachers, and preachers to comfort
His people. Comfort my people. Wondrous words
those are. My people. And remember, there's
no comfort without conversion. Because without conversion, being
born again by the Holy Spirit of God, we are outside of Christ. But oh, for the one who's being
granted faith to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, who's being
regenerated by the Holy Spirit of God, being converted. Oh, what comfort we find in these
words. What comfort we find. When the Lord Jesus Christ saves
His people, He comforts us, doesn't He? Because we see, I talked
to a dear sister here, I won't say who it is, but she told me,
she said, she said, Wayne, when the Lord saved me, she said,
I was just trembling in fear about my sin, and in the palm
of Christ, almost instantaneously, all my sins are forgiven. Oh,
that's wonderful. That's wonderful. And you know why the Lord saved
her? Because she's one of his people. Just like the reason
he saved each one of God's people, his elect. We can look at this
scripture and go, my people, God calls us my people, a people
of his choosing, a people purchased by the blood of Christ, God incarnate
in the flesh. I was talking to Drew about the
Bible and everything and about salvation in Christ and we were
agreeing that it just keeps getting more wondrous as we grow. As we hear more and more preaching,
it just becomes wondrous to us as we study and as we look. It's
wonderful. And it never gets old. It never
gets old. So what comfort God's people
can find in these scriptures God's people again are a chosen
people, that's why they're called here by God, by Jehovah, my people. They're a chosen people. God
himself chose us in Christ. It's wondrous, isn't it? It's
wondrous. It's absolutely wondrous. The Lord Jesus Christ saves his
people, a people of his choosing. Through the preaching of the
word, we're born again by the Holy Spirit of God. And we find great assurance through
the preaching of the gospel, don't we? We find great comfort,
don't we? I ask you, before the Lord saved
you, what was your comfort? You found comfort in something.
It's either self or other people. But true comfort is found in
Christ. Because friends will let you
down. Family will even let you down. People will let you down. Like the grace preacher I heard,
he said, don't look at me, I'll let you down all the time. Look to Christ, look to the one
we proclaim. Look to the king. We're just ambassadors. We talk
about the King, as we looked at this morning. We talk about
the King. And there's no peace again with
God without conversion, without being born again, without Christ. Many give people a false assurance
because they've made a decision or they've walked an aisle or
they've prayed a prayer, but true conversion, beloved, is
of God. And those who are truly converted
are God's people. Those he calls my people. My people. How wondrous it is
And we don't get proud when we think that way, do we? No. What
does it do, beloved, to us when we read that? Comfort ye, comfort
ye my people, saith the Lord. It puts us in the dirt, doesn't
it? It humbles us. Just like we were talking about
today, brother and sister, just like we were talking about this
morning. It just puts us in the dirt before the Lord. In whom we have redemption through
His blood, through the work of Christ, the forgiveness of sins,
according to the riches of His grace. Ephesians chapter 1, verse
7. God's people are a redeemed people.
And they're redeemed by the precious blood of Christ because, you
know why? Because they're God's people.
They're the ones that They're the ones that the Almighty says
in this text, my people. They're the only ones for whom
Christ died for. We don't know who they are. No,
we don't have any other, therefore we preach the gospel to all.
Right, it goes out. Whosoever will, let him come.
Out it goes. We proclaim, trust Christ and
rest in Christ. Yes, absolutely. And God's people
are believing people, aren't they? They believe on Christ. They believe on him. Now, we
may struggle with unbelief, just like Peter said, Lord, help my
unbelief, right? Because let's be honest, we all do. I haven't
met a saint yet that doesn't struggle with unbelief. We all
have times of that. But you know, I was thinking
about this this week again. It's not our grip on Christ,
it's his grip on us. He's the one who keeps us, beloved.
He's the one who keeps us. When our hearts are fainting,
when we're going through a time of grief or trial or tribulation,
he is the one who keeps us, beloved. He's the one who keeps us. He
is the one. And what a hope we have. What
a hope we have in Christ. Neither is there salvation in
any other. Acts says this. Neither is there salvation in
any other. That means nobody else. There is no salvation in
anybody else but Christ. But Christ. Neither is there
salvation in any other, for there is none other name Under heaven,
given among men, whereby we must be saved. There is no other hope. Any other
hope that anybody has is a refuge of lies. That's clearly bought
forth in Acts 4.12, which is that verse. Neither is there
salvation in any other, for there is none other name. Under heaven,
given among men, whereby we must be saved. No other hope. Now why do God's people need
to be comforted? Because we're saved sinners. God has saved us from the penalty
of our sin and the guilt of our sin. But we have not been We still have the presence of
our sin, don't we? But not when we get the glory.
It's gone. It's gone, Lord. And what a thing for us to look
forward to. To not only be in the presence
of the Lord, which is in itself just, we can't even fathom it,
but to be to have no sin, to have perfect worship, perfect
worship, to be presented to the Father by Christ, unblameable
and unreprovable in his sight, all because of what Christ has
done. Oh, what comfort this brings God's people. We are saved sinners,
but we need to be comforted, don't we? We're conscious of
our own sins still, aren't we? Even though we know we've been
forgiven for our sins, we're still conscious of it, aren't
we? We're still conscious of it. We've been saved again from
the power and the presence of sin, but as we grow in grace
and in the knowledge and truth of the Lord Jesus Christ, we
see our sin more and more. And we don't point fingers at
others and go, look what they're doing. That's what religion does. Religion does. And they point
fingers, well, look at that guy. How could he be a Christian and
do that? Grace doesn't do that. Grace says, you've had mercy
on me, Lord. And I see enough, I remember
Donnie Bell saying this, and man, I was listening to this
at home, and I just let out an amen. He said, there's enough
pride in me to burn this whole building down. That's true. I
agree with that, in me. There's enough pride in me to
light this place on fire. Praise God, I'm a saved sinner.
Saved sinner. And I know you are, too, who
believe. Saved by God's grace. So we need to be comforted because
we are conscious of our own sin in our state. Before he saved us, you've heard
me ask you this many times, before you were saved, did sin bother
you at all? Only when I got caught, right? Seriously, only when I got caught,
well then, oh, I'm so sorry. But other than that, it never
bothered me. Never bothered me. Drank it like water, like the
scriptures say. Drank iniquity like water. But
now, after the Lord saved us, I ask you this, you who are a
born-again, blood-washed saint of God, do you mourn over your
sin now? You do, don't you? We mourn over
how sinful we are. We but we quickly remember we're
forgiven for all our sins, don't we? But we do mourn over our
own sin. But all we flee to Christ, we
flee to our only hope, the only one where we can find true comfort. The Lord Jesus Christ. And we
were tried and through this pilgrimage on Earth, we're tried, beloved,
we have trouble with the flesh. We do. We carry around this body
of death, like Paul said, didn't he? Remember Paul? Oh, wretched
man that I am, who could deliver me from this body of death? That's
all of us, beloved, who are saved. See, people sometimes accuse
believers of being holier than thou. No, they don't know the
struggle we're going through, do they? They have no idea. It's a civil
war within the believer, isn't it? My! Oh, we struggle with our flesh,
and our flesh is our own worst enemy. But praise God, we'll
see later, it's been conquered. It's been conquered. It's been
conquered. Look at verse 2. Speak ye comfortably
to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, and again, this is God's people,
that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned. For she hath received of the
Lord's hand double for all her sins. So what shall the preacher
or the teacher say that shall be a comfort to God's people?
And what is the greatest comfort for the believer? What is the
source of the believer's comfort? Well, it's Christ. He's the source
of our comfort, beloved. And the gospel of Christ is good
news for sinners. It's good news for sinners. It's
like they say, since I heard the good news, I have heard no
bad news. When we dwell on what Christ has done for us, that's
good news. Good news for this old sinner.
I know it's good news for you all, too, who believe. It's good
news. It's the most blessed news we
ever heard. Most blessed news we ever heard. My. Salvation is only in and through
Christ. And look at this verse. It says,
your warfare is accomplished. Now the Hebrew word there for
accomplished means to fill, to be full, to be accomplished,
to be ended. When you come to an end, you
can't go any further, can you? When you're riding on a train
and it comes to the end of where that track can't go no more,
it's ended. No matter what you use your mind,
you can't use your mind to move it any further, it's finished.
Used to ride the subways in Toronto, and they'd go to a certain point,
and they'd stop, and you couldn't go an inch further than what
that train went, unless you got out and walked. But as far as
on that train, that was it. That route is ended. Well, the battle's over, beloved. The warfare is accomplished.
O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?
The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law.
But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord
Jesus Christ. That's who we have victory in.
The warfare is accomplished. He finished it. Therefore, my beloved brethren,
be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the
Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not in vain in
the Lord." Your labor is not in vain. And our Savior has accomplished
this. All of our enemies have been conquered by our great King,
beloved. Our enemy called sin is being
conquered by our King for us. Once we were bound up by sin,
Proverbs says this, but the ways of man before the eyes of the
Lord are before the eyes of the Lord and he pondereth all his
goings. His own iniquities shall take the wicked himself and he
shall be holding with the cords of his sins. Our sins, beloved,
were like tight cords around us. And we couldn't get free. We
couldn't get free, we were like bound up. Couldn't move. We were slaves to our sin. But
the Lord has set us free, beloved. Set us free. Christ has broken the bonds which
once held us. Hebrews chapter 10, verse 17
and 18, listen to this. This is how we know he's broken
the bonds. And there's sins and iniquities, why remember? No
more. No more. The law had a claim on us, didn't
it? Oh, you've broken it. The justice of God said the soul
that sinneth it must die. And it had a just claim on us
too, didn't it? The law had a just claim on us,
and the justice of God. The law of God had a just claim
on us, and the justice of God had a just claim on us. And Christ,
the sinless substitute, dies in our place, and that there's
no more claim upon us. None. We are set free, beloved,
in Christ. Set free in Him. Our sin has
been conquered by our great King, We could never conquer our own
sin, right? Never. We were bound up by it,
as Proverbs says. But he has set us free. He's
cut the cords, beloved. Oh my. He's cut the cords. And then, another one of our,
I think our greatest enemy is self. That's being conquered
by the Lord too. Oh, we still struggle with it,
don't we? The Lord Jesus Christ saved us. We used to live for
self. And even now we struggle with
our own flesh after we've been saved. And again, I think personally
it's my greatest enemy. It's my greatest enemy. But we
live our lives, turn if you would to Galatians 2.20. Do you know
we live our lives in service to our great king? That's who
we live our lives in service to. Look at this, Galatians 2.20,
look at this. Remember, we were in Adam when
we fell. Well, we were in Christ when
he died on Calvary's cross for us. Beloved, look at this. Galatians
2.20, I am crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, I live. Yet not
I, but Christ liveth in me. In the life which I now live
in the flesh, right, I live by the faith of the Son of God who
loved me and gave himself for me. Look at that. Crucified with
Christ, nevertheless I live. Yet not I, but Christ liveth
in me. In the life which I now live
in the flesh, how do we live now? We saw that this morning.
How did the just live? By faith, beloved. By faith,
by God-given faith. By God-given faith. Faith of
the Son of God who loved me. How long has he loved us for?
From eternity. And look at the next verse. Look
at the next thing. And gave himself for me. He freely
gave himself for us. He willingly did that. Because
of his great love for us, beloved. When it says he gave himself
for, he died for us. He died, the sinless substitute
died in our place. So that the law could say, I
have no claim on Neil. I have no claim to the law of
God. And the justice of God says, I have no claim on you. Because
Christ fulfilled it all. And we, it leaves us in awe,
doesn't it? I know I say that a lot, but
it really does. When we contemplate that, it takes us far off, doesn't
it? Because it's so wondrous. It's
absolutely wondrous. You know that our enemy Satan,
he's been conquered too. Now we're no match for him, but
oh my. Our great king conquered him,
beloved. Our great king conquered and turned, if you will, to John
chapter 14, and I'll read Ephesians chapter two, which proclaims
this, wherein in times past, ye, being the people that Paul's
writing to, the church at Ephesus, walked according to the course
of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air,
the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience.
We were enslaved, beloved, and we did not even know it. We had no clue that we were enslaved. We had no clue that we were bound
up by sin. We thought, hey, I'm living the
life. Hey, I could do whatever I want.
No, you're bound to your nature, and you got a dead nature, and
all it's going to do, you're going to sin all the time. But the believer in Christ, we
have a new nature. It governs us, doesn't it? It
governs our will. governs our will. We still sin,
but now we mourn over sin, because the Holy Spirit within us convicts
us of our sin. Look at this though in John.
Look at this said about our great subject here. Look at this. John
chapter 14. Look at verse 30. Hereafter I
will not talk much with you. For the prince of this world
cometh, and that's Satan, and look at this, and hath nothing
in me. Well, he could come to us, there's
lots in us he could find, eh? But that's our Savior. That's
the one who died in our place. The prince of the world came
to him and hath found no fault, nothing. Nothing in him. Because he's perfect. He's sinless. He's God incarnate in the flesh. And he's sent here to die in
the place of his people. My people sent for him. And how that comforts us, we're
God's people, doesn't it? Oh, it's very comforting for
us. And the prince of the world, John 16, 11 says, of judgment,
because the prince of this world is judged. Oh, he knows his end. He's on the leash, beloved. Christ
conquered him, crushed him. Crushed him at Calvary's Cross. And our enemy, the world, has
been conquered by our great King, beloved. He's conquered the world.
These things I have spoken unto you, that you might have peace
in the world, you shall have tribulation. We're gonna have
tribulation while we're here in this world. But be of good
cheer, I have overcome the world, John 16.33. And in our other enemy, death,
he's been conquered too, hasn't he? Death's been conquered. The Lord Jesus Christ has conquered
the enemy of death for us. Jesus said unto her, I am the
resurrection and the life. I am. That's what he said. I
am the resurrection and the life. He that believeth in me, though
he were dead, yet shall he live. born dead spiritually, made alive
in Christ. And whosoever liveth and believeth
in me shall never die. And here's the question that
he asked him, and I'll ask you. Believest thou this? Believest thou this? Whosoever
liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?
John chapter 11, verse 26. Believest thou this? Another
way that God's people are comforted, as we see in this verse, is that their iniquity is pardoned.
Their iniquity is pardoned. All of our sins, past, present,
and future, blotted out, beloved, blotted out. God remembers them
no more. You know why? Because they've
been atoned for. They've been atoned for by the
Lord Jesus Christ. And they will never be bought
against us. Ever. Hallelujah for that. That's wondrous. With his spotless garments on,
the righteousness of Christ, God's people can approach God
now. Approach a holy and a righteous
God. not on our own merit, but on
the merit and work of the Lord Jesus Christ and the fact that
the believer is clothed in the perfect, spotless righteousness
of Christ. And more comfort for God's people
are found in this verse where we read, she hath received to
the Lord's hand double for all her sins. This denotes the sufficiency
of the blood of. Of Christ and the complete satisfaction
made by Christ. For the sins of all his people. Not that more was required than
was due, but his offering being infinitely and fully, it answers
more than double what can be demanded, beloved. More than
double than what can be demanded. You know, where sin did abound,
grace did much more abound. Look at verses 3 to 5 here. 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. John the Baptist is the voice
crying in the wilderness of Judea, and there's a threefold effect
of his office, the humiliation of some, the exaltation of others,
and the revelation of the glory of Jesus Christ. Prepare ye the
way, prepare ye the way. The Messiah, he comes, John called
upon all men to repent, to lay aside all thoughts and ways contrary
to Christ's gospel and kingdom, and to embrace him when he comes.
Every valley shall be exalted when Messiah comes. All who are
depressed and bowed down with the guilt of sin, laboring and
heavy laden, low and humble in their own eyes shall be raised
up and comforted, because all our sins are forgiven. This again
speaks of God's people. The crooked shall be made, or
every mountain and hill shall be made low. The proud and haughty
shall be bought down, beloved. Bought down. And those who are elated with
themselves and their own righteousness shall be humbled. It will lead
to their doom. And then it says the crooked
shall be made straight, the rough places plain. Oh my, we were
crooked, weren't we? We'd been made straight. And
has not the rough places been made plain? The way, there's
only one way. The Lord Jesus Christ. Do you
know that on the way to the cities of refuge that the priests would
go out and there were signs always telling people where the cities
of refuge were. But the priest would go and they
would pick up stones and clear the way and make it real plain
and real easy for people to run to that city. Oh, yeah. There's only one way, isn't there?
He said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto
the Father but by me. It's only through Christ. Neither
is there salvation in any other. No salvation outside of Christ.
He is the way. And that way is made plain, isn't
it? It's made plain through the preaching of the gospel. In Luke, it says this, In the
beginning, Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them
in the scriptures the things concerning himself. This is what
Christ did to the two on the road to Ermaus. Turn, if you
would, to Hebrews chapter 1. Christ himself is the brightness
of the Father's glory He reveals His redemptive glory, which is
God's chief glory. Look at this in Hebrews. Hebrews
chapter 1. Remember, in the Old Testament,
all the types pointed to Christ. Types and shadows, they all pointed
to Christ, beloved. They all pointed to Him. God,
who at Sunday times, verse 1, Hebrews 1, 1. God, who at sundry
times and in divers manners spake and passed unto the fathers by
the prophets, by the scriptures, hath in these last days spoken
unto us, by who? By his Son, whom he hath appointed
heir of all things. He is sovereign. By whom also,
look at this, he made the worlds, He made it all, He created it
all. By the word of His power. Who being the brightness of His
glory in the express image of His person and upholding all
things by the word of His power. Look at that. Think of that.
Upholding all things by the word of His power. You've heard me
often say, there's no maverick molecule, is there? Not one in
this universe, not one. He upholds all things by the
word of his power, beloved. Everything visible and invisible
is under his dominion. And then look at, look what,
the very one who holds all things by the word of his power came
down to this world. And what did he do for his people?
He purged their sins. Hallelujah. He took them all
away. He paid for them all. For all
of them. Purged them. They're gone. As
far as the East is from the West. I'll remember them no more against
my people. What did he do? After he purged
our sins, which is miraculous, he sat down. The work's finished.
He sat down in the majesty on high. He sat down. It's finished. Sat down on the right hand of
majesty on high. It's finished. Remember what our God said to
Moses. Moses beseeched him to see thy glory. He said, I will
make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the
name of the Lord before thee, and will be gracious to whom
I'll be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy.
My. And that, He's the God who came
down to the saints, the one true God, and purged the sins of His
people, and is now sat down on the majesty of the high. Oh my. The everlasting gospel
is called the gospel of His glory. His glory. For you see your calling, brethren,
how not many wise after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble
are called. But God hath chosen the foolish
things of the world to confound the wise, and God hath chosen
the weak things of the wise. To bring to nought things that
are, or to confound the things which
are mighty, and base things of the world, and things which are
despised hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to
bring to nought things that are. That no flesh should glory in
his presence. no flesh, but of him, are ye
in Christ Jesus, who is of God made unto us wisdom, righteousness,
sanctification, and redemption, that according as it is written,
he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. And because of these
wondrous truths, knowing that our iniquities are all forgiven,
what comfort it brings God's people, and we give him all the
glory, don't we? We give them all the glory. Look
at this in Isaiah chapter 6 verses 6 to 9. We'll read those. The
voice said cry and he said what shall I cry? All flesh is grass
and all the goodness, 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. 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 Judah,
behold your God. Behold your God. My, here's a command, cry in
a question. What shall I cry? What shall
I preach? What is the message that men need to hear? All flesh
is grass. All flesh is grass. And all that's
glory and calmliness, that's beauty, is as the flower of the
field. All flesh, young and old, Jew
and Gentile, religious and profane, is as worthless as withering
grass. We're born spiritually dead and
worthless. Nothing we can do in our life
improves that condition, beloved. And the death of a flesh only
confirms its corrupt condition, doesn't it? In the flesh dwells
no good thing. In the flesh no man can please
God. There's nothing we can do by
our thoughts or by our actions that will please God for our
sins. There's nothing that we can do
that will gain us merit with God and favor with God. In the flesh dwells no good things
and in the flesh no man can please God. This must be preached in
order to humble the pride of man. To humble the pride of man
and to show the necessity of divine power and regeneration.
Turn, if you would, to John chapter 3. John chapter 3. Not only is all flesh grass,
but even man's so-called righteousness, that which is calmly and commendable
compared to others, is bought forth here, is as worthless as
a fading flower. But we are all as an unclean
thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags, and we do
fade as a leaf. And our iniquities, like the
wind, have taken us away. Isaiah 64, 6. Look at what our
Lord says from the lips of our Master here. In John 3, verses
5-7, Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except
a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into
the kingdom of God. The water of the Word and the
Holy Spirit of God, beloved. That which is born of the flesh
is what? Flesh. And that which is born of the
spirit, though, is spirit. Marvel not that I say unto you,
ye must be born again. You must be born again. And we
know that man at his best state is altogether vanity. And we
find this out, don't we, when the spirit of God glows upon
us and makes us to know the truth about ourselves. in the light
of God's holiness. When God has drawn us to Christ,
we see the holiness of God and we see our sinfulness, don't
we? And we see that all flesh is his grass. It's all his grass. Turn, if you would, to Isaiah
chapter six. Look at this. Look at Isaiah's response when he's in the presence of
our great God. This is incredible, look at this.
Then said I, woe is me, for I am undone. I'm undone. Because I'm a man of unclean
lips, verse 5. And then now he sees the whole
depravity of mankind because he says, I dwell in the midst
of a people of unclean lips, for my eyes have seen the King,
the King. Behold your God, the Lord of hosts. Job said this, I have heard of
thee by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye seeth thee. That's
the eye of faith. Wherefore I abhor myself and
repent in dust and ashes. So when God is bringing the sinner
to Christ, we abhor ourselves, don't we? And look at this, the word of
God shall stand forever. Look at verse 8 of Isaiah 40.
The grass withereth, the flower fadeth, but the word of our God
shall stand forever. Empires have risen, beloved.
People have come against our great king. People have said, I'm gonna take
him off the earth. No one will be left. No, they're
taken off the earth, aren't they? The great Roman Empire, rise,
is gone. The great empire of the Medes
and Persians rose up. The great empire of Babylon,
where Nebuchadnezzar was the king, it's gone. But the word
of God is still here, isn't it? It's still here, beloved. And all who have come against
it have perished. Perished. Man may pop off and
say this and that. I don't believe that. Don't change
that, it's true. Behold your God. He's on the throne. He's on the
throne. The Word of God shall stand forever.
This may be applied to the Word of God, which is sure and certain,
forever settled in heaven and always fulfilled. Or Christ too,
who is the Word. Christ who is the Word, who stands
forever, in His office. In His office is His prophet,
priest, and king. Colossians says this, for by
Him were all things created, same as what was said in Hebrews,
that are in heaven and that are in earth, visible and invisible,
whether they be thrones or dominions or principalities or powers,
all things were created by Him and for Him. For Him. And He is before all things,
and by Him all things consist. All things. Even the very people
who curse His name, they consist and breathe His air because He
allows them to. By Him all things consist. And He is the head of the body,
which is the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from
the dead, that in all things He might have the preeminence.
And He must have the preeminence, beloved. He must. In the preaching of His gospel,
and in our lives too, He has the preeminence, doesn't He? Our great God In behold your
God look at verse 9 Oh Zion that bring us good tidings get thee
up into a high mountain Oh Jerusalem that bring us good tidings lift
up thy voice with strength Lift up that lift it up and be not
afraid Don't be afraid Say unto the cities of Judah behold your
God Behold your God. Get up on a high mountain. Lift
up your voice. Don't be afraid. Don't be afraid. And say unto the people, Behold
your God. Behold your God. John Gill said it best. Behold your God. That divine
person who has come, that was promised, prophesied and expected,
even Emmanuel. God with us. God in our nature.
God manifest in the flesh. God, your Savior, and who being
God, truly God, is able to save to the uttermost. The uttermost. We know all who come to Him.
He's able to save them to the uttermost. Look to Him, beloved,
and be saved. Look to Him and be saved. We
as believers keep looking to Him, don't we? But oh, sinner
friend, look to Christ. He's the only one who can save. May God give you grace to look
to Him. And behold, He who is your God. This is the God of
the Bible. He is in full control. He is
sovereign. And what mercy He has on animated
pieces of dust like us. That's where we are. And He has
mercy. Behold Him. He's the King. He's king over everyone whether
they believe it or not. He's king. He's king. It's because someone don't believe
it. He's not abdicated his throne, no. He's the king of kings and
the lord of lords. He's on the throne. He's been
declared lord of lords and king of kings. He's crowned with glory
and honor. He's crowned with glory and honor. And he has all power in heaven
and earth. All power. So let the echo of our faith
be, my Lord and my God. My Lord and my, that's what he
is to us, isn't it? He's our Lord, he's our Savior,
our Redeemer, and he is our God. Glory to his name.