For our scripture reading, turn
to 2 Thessalonians chapter 2. I'm sorry, 2 Thessalonians chapter
2. 2 Thessalonians chapter 2. Begin with verse 13. But we're bound to give thanks
always to God for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord, because
God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification
of the spirit and belief of the truth, whereunto he called you
by our gospel to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus
Christ. Therefore, brethren, stand fast
and hold the traditions which you've been taught, whether by
word or our epistle. Now, our Lord Jesus Christ himself
and God, even our Father, which hath loved us and hath given
us an everlasting consolation and good hope through grace,
comfort your hearts and establish you in every good word and work. Let's go to our Lord in prayer. Our God and Father in heaven,
we thank you for this day. Lord, we thank you for this opportunity
to gather together as a people. Lord, we pray that you would
be pleased to bless us with your presence. And Lord, that you
would bless the preaching and hearing of thy word. Lord, take
these things written in Thy Scriptures and reveal them to us. Lord,
let us see more of our Savior. Cause us to see the Lord Jesus
Christ and rest in Him and Him alone. Lord, we pray for those
of our number who are in a time of heaviness and trouble. Lord,
we think, especially of our pastor, Lord, we pray for Frank, Bless
him, raise him up, and Lord, return him, this Lord today,
to once again preach thy word. Now again, bless us, bless us
in this hour, bless this time together, and Lord, in all that's
said and done, get glory, get glory to thy name. We pray for
Christ's sake, amen. Open your Bibles to Isaiah, We'll
take our text from Isaiah 40 this evening. Isaiah 40, and we'll look at
the first two verses. We'll just look at two verses
of scripture this evening. Let's begin reading in verse
one. Comfort ye, comfort ye, My people, saith your God, speak
ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her that her warfare
is accomplished, and that her iniquity is pardoned, for she
hath received of the Lord's hand double for all her sins. I remember years ago, I remember
Brother Henry saying this, He said in looking at his scripture,
he said there's three things. Three things we should see. One,
who's speaking? Who is speaking? Two, who's he
speaking to? And three, what's the context
of that scripture? And I love it when it's very
evident in a passage of scripture who is speaking. And in this
passage, I believe it's very clear. Look what we read here. He says, Comfort ye my people,
saith your God. Saith your God. It's the Lord
of hosts that speaks here. Not man's opinion. not man's thoughts, not man's
interpretation. I think it means this or I think
it means that. Thus saith the Lord. 413 times that passage appears
in Scripture. Thus saith the Lord. And obviously, every page of
Scripture is worth our full attention. But I think when we see words
like this, saith your God, saith your God, saith the Lord. Comfort
ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. It's definitely worth
time to just sit and listen. What would the Lord say? What would he have for his people?
the God of all creation, God who is holy and just, God who
back there in Exodus as he passed by before Moses, he said this,
he said, the Lord, the Lord God who is merciful, gracious, long-suffering, abundant in goodness, abundant
in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving
iniquity and transgression, sin, that will by no means bear the
guilty. Can you imagine Moses just, I
mean, hearing Almighty God speak, and yet through his word he continues
to speak to his people. God who is sovereign in all things. Sovereign in creation. Sovereign
in providence. Sovereign in salvation. God Almighty speaks here. And
listen, there's no question about that, is there? There's no question
about who's speaking here. Paul writing this to the Corinthians,
he said, He said He's the God of all comfort. God of all comfort. 2 Corinthians 1, 3, let me just
read to you. Blessed be God, even the Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, the God of
all comfort. And that's exactly what we read
here in Isaiah 40, verse 1. Comfort ye, comfort ye, my people,
saying, your God. I pray he'd give us ears to hear
him this evening. Every time we gather here, that
he'd give us an ear to hear his word. That's what scripture says. He that hath ears to hear, let
him hear. Well, to whom? To whom is he
speaking? Well, he speaks here to the prophets. He speaks here to his preachers,
his pastors, his teachers. all those who are bond servants,
all those who he's called to the ministry. He gives this command.
Those who he's put in the ministry to declare forth his word. We read that in Romans 10 verse
13. No man takes this office upon
himself. Whosoever shall call upon the
name of the Lord shall be saved. How shall they call on him? of
whom they've not believed? And how shall they believe on
Him of whom they've not heard? And how shall they hear without
a preacher? And how shall they preach except
they be sinned? That's who He speaks to here. Listen, what's the command? What's
the command to His ministers? Comfort ye my people. That's the command. That's pretty
simple, isn't it? My people. I ask you, do you
need comfort? Do we need comfort? This message
is a message of comfort, but look who it's for here. It's
not for everybody. It's for His people. He says,
comfort ye My people. by particular people. And listen,
that's not to say there's a time for rebuke, right? Probably more often than not,
we need rebuke. There's a time for correction.
But here, here is a command to comfort, to comfort God's people. This message, as I mentioned,
it's not a message of comfort for everybody. You know, Scripture
says this, to some, it's a savor of death. A savor of death unto
death. To those who are perishing, to
those whose hearts are filled with pride and unbelief, it's
a savor of death. But what a miracle of God's grace
to some. To some, to those whose hearts
are opened by the Spirit of God, To those who feel the weight
and guilt of sin, to those who've seen the beauty, something of
the majesty of the Lord Jesus Christ, to see Him as our Savior,
to see Him as our sin offering, the gospel, God's Word, it's
a saver of life. Life unto life. What an amazing
thing, the same word to one, it's condemnation, but to another,
it gives life. To the unconverted, there is
no comfort. I've often wondered, to those
who rest in their works, and there are many that rest, where
is true comfort found? How can a man resting in his
works ever know that I've done enough, or I've not sinned too
much, or I've not done this, or I've not, where would true
comfort be found in that? There's no assurance to a rebel. And we don't cry peace where
there is no peace, as the false prophet does. He says, comfort
ye, comfort ye, my people, His people. He calls them by name. Those whom He's chosen in the
Lord Jesus Christ. Those for whom He made a covenant
with Christ to make them His people. Those given to Christ
in eternity past. Those redeemed by the precious
blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Those whom He's pleased to in
his time, effectually called by his grace to call them unto
himself. Those that will never, ever be
plucked out of his hand. Isn't that a comforting thought?
To be in Christ, to be in his hand, and never, never to be
plucked out. Eternally saved. He says here,
they are my people. A chosen people, a called people,
a redeemed people, a believing people. And we need comfort,
don't we? What a command, right? Don't we need comfort every day? A saved people. We know that,
we know all things work together for good to them who love God,
to them who are called according to his purpose. We're a saved
people, but yet we're conscious of our sin, we're conscious of
our inability. But we're a tried people, God's
people are a tried people. Troubled, troubled by this flesh,
troubled by this world, troubled by the things of this world,
of people that are often persecuted, we need comfort. We need comfort,
and it's found in God's Word. It's found, I believe, right
here in this passage, just these two verses of Scripture. Look at verse 2. Look what he
says here. He says, "...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 sin. Just in what little bit
of time we have here this evening, I want us to see, and I know
there's much more here in God's word, but four things, I pray
the Lord will enable us to just see Four things from this verse
here. Four reasons a believer can take
comfort. And the first one is, look what
he says here. He says, speak ye comfortably
to Jerusalem. Now, this is a command of the
Lord. Jerusalem is often referred to
as a holy city. People go to the holy lands. But Jerusalem was the site of
the slaughter of many of God's prophets throughout time. Zechariah was asked by the people
back in 2 Chronicles, He asked the people. He wasn't
asked by the people. He asked the people. He asked them, why do you transgress
the commandments? He asked the people that. Why
do you transgress the commandments of the Lord? He said, you've
forsaken the Lord. And as a result of that, the
Lord has forsaken you. Well, the people didn't repent
when they heard that. No, they stoned him. They slew one of
God's prophets. There was a man named Uriah,
and he prophesied in the name of the Lord. And one of those kings and his
men, when they heard what he had to say, they conspired to
kill him. Well, he caught word of that
and he left town. But you know, they weren't satisfied
with that. They went and tracked him down
and they brought him back to Jerusalem and they killed him. John the Baptist, you know, he
had his head cut off and put on a platter. And of all the
prophets, the greatest of all, the Lord Jesus Christ, crucified. on Gothis Hill there in Jerusalem. Now, wouldn't you think, thinking
the way we think, of all those horrific things that happened
there, I believe I'd be done with Jerusalem, whatever town
that happened in. Wouldn't that be the last place
we would go and want to speak comfort to somebody? Just a sinful
and horrible place like that. That's how it works in our way
of thinking. At least mine, that's my thought. Do you know what Scripture says?
The Lord's thoughts, they aren't like our thoughts. His ways aren't
our ways. Aren't we thankful? Aren't we
thankful that that's the case? And after the Lord's resurrection,
After His resurrection, listen to these words. Hold your place
there, but turn to Luke 24. Somebody wrongs me. I don't want
to have anything to do with it. But look here, Luke 24. Look
at verse 45, beginning with verse 45. Our Lord's speaking to His apostles.
Look, it says in verse 45, Then opened He their understanding
that they might understand the Scriptures. And He said unto
them, Thus it is written, and thus it behooved Christ to suffer
and to rise from the dead the third day. and that repentance
and remission of sins should be preached in his name among
all nations beginning at Jerusalem." Beginning at Jerusalem. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem. In this slaughterhouse of the
prophets, where he himself was slain, This is where Christ will
have his first proclamation of mercy. Oh, the riches of his
grace. The boundless love of the Lord
Jesus Christ that passeth all understanding. We sing that song, love beyond
our human comprehension. I think that certainly applies
here. Think about that. Wicked people, proven over the
years to be wicked, and yet that's who he goes to and begins this
proclamation of his love for his people. Speak ye comfortably
to Jerusalem. Well, second, he says her warfare
is accomplished. The battle, the battle's over. We forget that, don't we? What did our Lord cry as he hung
there on the cross? It's finished. It is finished. And God's saints have truly,
we have many enemies. Many, many, many enemies. Sin. Sins are certainly our enemy,
yet scripture declares their sins and their iniquities will
I remember no more. No more. And where remission
of these are, there's no more offering for sin. Sin has been
put away. Her warfare is accomplished. Sin is put away. How about this
enemy? This might be one of our greatest
ones, ourselves. The enemy of ourselves. Listen,
again, the warfare is accomplished. Paul writing to the Galatians,
he said, I'm crucified with Christ, nevertheless, I live. Yet not
I, but Christ liveth in me. In the life I now live in the
flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me
and gave himself for me. Satan, there's an enemy for sure,
right? Our Lord said in John 14 30,
the prince of this world cometh and hath nothing, nothing in
me. Victory, Victory over Satan. How about this world? Is this
world not our enemy? Is this world not the enemy of
the believer? In John 16, 33, our Lord said,
in this world, this shouldn't come as any surprise to us, in
this world, you're gonna have tribulation. But be of good cheer,
I have overcome the world. Victory, victorious over this
world. And victory, victorious over
death. The final enemy. Turn with me
to John chapter 11. Victory over death. Look at verse
25. John chapter 11, verse 25. Well, look back at verse 23. Jesus saith unto her, thy brother
shall rise again. And Martha saith unto him, I
know he'll rise again in the resurrection at the last day.
And Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection and the life. He that believeth in me, though
he were dead, yet shall he live. And whosoever liveth and believeth
in me shall never die. Believest thou this? I ask you,
do you believe that? Do we believe that to be true?
Well, here's comfort. Her warfare is accomplished. Go back to Isaiah 40, verse two. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem. Oh, the vilest offender, Jerusalem. The vilest offender that truly
believes at that moment. From Jesus, a pardon received.
Second, her warfare is accomplished. every enemy completely annihilated. You know, we have wars in this
earth and an enemy appears to be defeated and then a hundred
years later they come back and they fight again. Listen, every
enemy of the Lord Jesus Christ has been vanquished. Third, her iniquity. Now again, who's he speaking
to here? He's speaking to his people. Her iniquity is parted by his free and sovereign grace,
by the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Her iniquity is parted. Can you
take comfort in those words? But can we rest, can we lay down
our head tonight and rest knowing that, that our iniquity, my sin
has been pardoned? All of my, not just a little
bit of sin, all of my sin, my past sins, my present sins, my
future sins, blotted out, cleansed. atoned for, and listen, remembered
no more. We can't even imagine what that
is, can we? How many of you can think back
20, 30 years ago, 40, 50 years today, somebody that wronged
you in days gone by? We can't let those things go,
can we? But listen, this is what's said here. We remember them no
more. No more. No more. That which separated us from
God. We read that in the book of Isaiah.
Your iniquities have separated between you and your God. And yet here in Isaiah 40, listen
to these comforting words. Her iniquity is pardoned. God's word declares this, your
sins and iniquities will I remember no more. Cast into the, they've
been cast into the depths of the sea. You know, I've always
been pretty satisfied, like, when I can remember that, knowing
that they've been cast into the depths of the sea. I feel like
something that gets lost in the sea, It is gone. It's gone forever. A few years
back, the boys got me a pair of sunglasses, and I was foolish
enough to wear them out in the ocean and got hit by a big wave,
and they were gone. And despite my effort and the
boys' effort and Abby's effort of looking and looking and looking
and looking, they were gone. They were going on Wednesday.
They were going on Thursday. They were going on Friday. They
were going never to be seen again. But listen, it's even better
than that. Look, and I wished I'd have been
the one to find this, but I stole this from Brother Gabe, and I
believe he stole it. I think if I remember right,
he told me he stole it from somebody else. Look at Revelation 21. Revelation 21. Look at verse 1. I saw, Revelation 21.1, and I
saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the
first earth were passed away. And look at that last part there.
There was no more sea. My sin had been cast into the
ocean, cast into the sea. The sea don't even exist anymore.
You know what that tells me? My sin is put away. It is put completely away. No more sin. Well, fourth point,
back here in Isaiah 40. One more reason. One more reason
for comfort. She hath received double for
all her sin. I can't help with that double
cure. This points to the sufficiency
of the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Complete satisfaction. all our sin. In the book of Romans,
we read this, where sin abounded, grace did much more abound. Where sin abounded, that means
it overflowed. It overflowed. Where sin overflowed, the grace
of the Lord Jesus Christ it overflowed even more. We've received double, double
for all our sin. I don't know if everybody in
here has seen the ocean or not. I think we've been going for
at least 30 years. I feel like every year Every
year we go to the ocean, and I pretty much do the same thing. I love to just go stand with
my feet in the water and just stand there and just survey the
ocean. It's so vast. It just seems like
it goes on forever. And I look this up because I'm
just kind of curious. On a clear day, on an absolutely
clear day under the best conditions, the average person can see less
than three miles. It's like 2.8 miles out into
the ocean. It's just a little bit of it,
right? Even at that, I'm overwhelmed
by the vastness of it. But you know what, even at that,
All we see is just the surface. There's so much more there. It's beyond my comprehension.
And that's just the little bit that I can see. I can't begin
to know my sins. can't even begin to know it.
And I'm thankful. Aren't we thankful that we don't
know our sin? Is it the blackness of it? Aren't
we thankful that we don't know our sin? But take comfort in this. However great my sin is, however
great the sins of God's people is, we receive double, double, overflowing
more than enough for all our sin. Now you talk about something
beyond our comprehension. That is truly beyond our comprehension. Listen, just listen. Speak ye
comfortably to Jerusalem. Cry unto her. Her warfare, it's
accomplished. Every enemy, every enemy destroyed. Her iniquity is pardoned. He said, there are sins and iniquities,
well, I remember no more. Our Lord asked that woman taking
an adultery. He said, where are those nine
accusers? I don't know, I don't see it.
Neither do I condemn it. What else do we read here? She
has received of the Lord. Who's he speaking to? His people
again. She has received of the Lord
double. Double for all her sin. Oh, where
sin abounded. Grace. did much, much more abound. Well, let me close with this
scripture. Turn to Ephesians chapter three. Ephesians chapter three. Look beginning with verse 14. Listen to Paul writing the Ephesians. He says, For this cause I bow
my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the
whole family in heaven and earth is named, that he would grant
you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened
with the might by his Spirit in the inner man, that Christ
may dwell in your hearts by faith, that ye, being rooted and grounded
in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the
breadth and length and depth and height, and to know the love
of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that you may be filled with all
the fullness of God." Double, double. Look at verse
20, "...unto him that is able to do exceedingly, abundantly,
above all that we ask or think according to the power that worketh
in us. Unto Him. Unto Him be glory in
the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen. I pray the Lord would would make
that passage, that he would make his word a comfort, a comfort
to us and cause us in all times to just, to rest in him, knowing
that it's all of his, it's all of his hand. All right, Brother
Sean, lead us in the closing.