Isaiah chapter 40. I want to
read the first eight verses. We're going to look at the first
portion of this this morning. Then the Lord's willing, we'll
look at the last portion this afternoon. Isaiah chapter 40,
and let's begin reading in verse 1. Comfort ye, comfort ye my
people, saith your God. 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. 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 has spoken it. The voice said, Cry,
and he said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the
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." The last time I spoke to you, it was concerning
the depths of afflictions and sorrows that a Christian, a child
of God, sometimes finds himself in. Out of the depths, David
said, I cried unto the Lord. And we looked at some of the
reasons the Lord takes His children through the depths. how it profits
them to be there. Today we want to look at what
the Lord really speaks to those who are in trouble. Comfort ye,
comfort ye, my people. Now let's look at this. Here
is God speaking. Isaiah is speaking by the inspiration
of the Holy Spirit. And the first thing we see here
in this verse is this. that God has a people. That's comfort in itself, isn't
it? Comfort ye, comfort ye my people. And he stresses this. He's not
ashamed of his people. He owns his people no matter
what circumstances they find themselves in, no matter what
situation. No matter what they may think
of themselves, no matter what the world may think of them or
judge them, the Lord owns them as His people. My people. My people, He says. How can He
say they're My people? Several ways. They're His by
electing love. He chose them to be His people. Sometime at your leisure, you
go over to Deuteronomy chapter 7 and read those verses around
5, 6, and 7. And he reminded the children
of Israel that he had chosen them. He says, You're my special
people. I've chosen you to be a special
people unto me. And he says, Here's why I've
not chosen you. I didn't choose you because you
were more than number than any other people. But I chose you
because I loved you. I loved you and I chose you to
be my people. You're my people by choice, but
not your choice. My choice. Remember what the
Lord Jesus told His disciples. You've not chosen me. I've chosen
you. I've chosen you out of this world.
What did He choose them to? Choose them to salvation, didn't
He? God hath chosen you to salvation. He chose you to be His people.
And He chose you because He loved you. Sometimes He calls them
His sheep. Sometimes He calls them His elect. Sometimes He calls them His vessels
of mercy. Sometimes He calls them His jewels. He's got many names for them.
But they're His people. They're His people. Now, brothers
and sisters, listen to me. Here's one of the blessings,
and here's one of the comforts of the truth of God's elect in
love. And it's just this. What if God
did not have a people? What if God had not chosen a
people? You know what Paul said when
he answered that question. He said, all of us, would have
been his Sodom. We'd have all been made lacking
to Gomorrah. If any man finds any fault with
election, he ought to think about that. Election is the only hope
of any man. We're His. They're my people.
I've chosen them to be my people. Comfort ye my people. I'll tell
you another way God can say they're my people. They're His by a great
price. You are bought. You are bought. That indicates, that implies
at least, that we were in slavery, doesn't it? That we had to be
bought, just like a slave on the auction block. We had to
be bought. And we were bought. Bought at
a great price. Not silver and gold, but with
the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. He paid for us,
bought our souls, bought our bodies, atoned for our sins by
the sacrifice of Himself. He told Israel, said, Fear not,
for I have redeemed thee, thou art mine. I've redeemed you. You're mine by redemption. Why
did He redeem His people? He came to save His people from
their sin. Why did He do it? Because they're
His people. They're His people. I lay down my life for my sheep. Why? Because I love them. Why?
Because my Father gave them to me. And I'm going to redeem them.
They're His people by another way. They're His people openly. The Lord calls them openly. And they come to Him openly and
acknowledge to Him, acknowledge Him before this world, that He
is their God. And He is their Savior. This
is what Psalms 110 and verse 3 says, a very familiar Scripture.
But this is the way we become His in our experience. We openly
become His. David said this, Lord Jesus,
thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power." Willing
to what? Willing to come to me. Willing
to own me. Willing to confess me before
this world. Why do they come? Because they're
His people. Thy people shall be willing.
The Lord Jesus said, My sheep, they hear My voice, and I know
them, and they follow Me, and I give unto them eternal life,
and they'll never perish. I give unto them. I give unto
them. I give them a new heart that
they may know Me. I give them a new spirit that
they may worship Me. And I put my fear in their hearts
and they'll never depart from me. Why does he do that for him?
They're his. They're his people. I'll tell
you how you first find out if they're his people. You know how you first find out
that they're one of his? You can't go back there and look
at the Book of Life. We don't have access to that.
But I tell you, there comes a time when the Lord makes His own willing,
and they hear His voice, and you'll find them somewhere smiting
up on their chest, saying, God be merciful to me, the sinner.
And there's when you can go tell them, you may just be one of
His. If you're one of His, I've got some comfort for you. Because
He said, comfort you, My people. Comfort ye my people. Take your
Bibles right quickly and look at some passages with me. Turn
over to your right in the book of Zechariah. My people, my people,
if you go to the last book of the Bible, Old Testament, Malachi,
and you start turning back, you'll see Zechariah. And look in Zechariah
chapter 13 in verse 8 and verse 9. My people, my people. Look what he says in verse 8.
Zechariah chapter 13 verse 8. It shall come to pass that in
all the land, saith the Lord, two parts therein shall be cut
off and die. That's sad, ain't it? That's
sad. That's a fearful thing. God's
going to cut sinners off. They're going to perish. And
it seems a year of great numbers are going to perish. But look
at this. But the third shall be left. There's the remnant,
ain't it? There's the elect. There's the
seed. Except the Lord has left us a
seed. And I will bring the third part through the fire and will
refine them as silver is refined, and I will try them as gold is
tried. And they shall call on My name,
and I will hear them. I will say, It is My people,
and they shall say, The Lord is my God." Ain't that wonderful? They were His before they could
ever say. He's mine. But I tell you, if
we're His, there comes a time when we'll say, You're mine.
My Beloved is mine. And I'm His. Look in another
place. Look just over to your left. Look over to your left to Hosea.
Just keep turning a few books over to Hosea. Look in chapter
2. Look in Hosea chapter 2. And look in verse 23. This says almost the same thing,
but he adds something here. In the verse I just read to you,
he said, I heard them praying, and I'll say, it's my people. And they'll say, the Lord is
my God. But notice how personal now Hosea
makes it. In verse 23 of Hosea chapter
2, And I will sow her unto Me in the earth, And I will have
mercy upon her that had not obtained mercy." Boy, in their experience, they
hadn't had it. Oh, we hadn't. And look at this,
"...and I will say to them..." Before, he just said, I'll say.
But now, you hear, he makes it personal. "...I will say to them
which were not my people by experience in grace, Thou art my people. That's pretty personal language.
And look what they say. They shall say, Thou art my God. That's what happens in our experience.
We're His. One more passage of Scripture.
Look over in Jeremiah. Just on to your left. Over in
Jeremiah chapter 32. Jeremiah chapter 32. We're not
only His people, but if you're His, you're His covenant people.
You're His covenant child. Look what he says in Jeremiah
chapter 32. Look in verse 37. Jeremiah chapter
32 and verse 37. Behold, I will gather them out
of all countries, where I have driven them in mine anger and
in my fury and in great wrath. And I will bring them again to
this place and cause them to dwell safely. And they shall
be my people, and I will be their God. And I will give them one
heart and one way that they may fear me forever, for the good
of them and their children after them, and I will make an everlasting
covenant with them, and I will never turn away from them to
do them good. And I will put my fear in their
hearts, and they shall never depart from me. Yea, I will rejoice
over them to do them good. I will plant them in this land
assuredly with my whole heart and with my whole soul. For thus
saith the Lord, like as I have brought all this great evil upon
this people, so will I bring upon them all the good that I
have promised them." They are His people. My people. My people. Back in our text, over in Isaiah
chapter 40, God has a people. And he says
here in verses 1, Comfort ye, comfort ye my people. Why does he say that? God's people
need comfort. God's people are sometimes an
afflicted people. They're in trouble. Their hearts
are heavy. Their minds are sorrowful. I
told you not long ago, I cannot understand And I know nothing about the
experience of going through this world as a Christian, being all
joy and never any sadness. I have no idea what it is like
being all light and never coming into any darkness. Do you know
anything about that? With a heart full of faith and
never struggling with unbelief? That you're so strong you never
feel your utter weakness. That you just know everything
and never pray, Oh Lord, forgive my ignorance. Open the eyes of
my understanding. That's been my experience. Hasn't
it yours? It's been my experience as a
Christian that I need to be comforted of the Lord. And I need it often. I need it often. And I find great
delight in this verse here, comfort ye, comfort ye, my people. Most of you here this morning,
I know. I've known most of you for years.
And I know some of the things you've gone through. I mean,
late at night and early in the morning, you've watered your
pillow with your tears. And you've done it for years.
Some of you I haven't known very long, but I know this much. You went through some dark places.
You went through some deep valleys. And even you that are here this
morning that cannot yet say with any assurance that you're God's
people. You can't say that with any assurance.
I'm the Lord's. And He's mine. It's my prayer
and my hope that He'll call you to Himself. And He'll say to
you like He did to Israel, I have redeemed you, you're mine. And
then you'll say, and you're mine. You're mine. And then, when I come here to
this passage, and it says, comfort you, comfort you, my people.
You'll say, that's me. I'm His. And I need some comfort. I need some comfort. Speak ye
comfortably to my people. How can I speak? How could I
possibly this morning speak any comfort to a man or a woman if
Jesus Christ has not first comforted you concerning salvation? You
can't can you? Terence and I are going to take
you to the funeral tomorrow. And, boy, the funeral, you hear
all kinds of pleas. People pleading with you. Can
you say something to comfort these people? But you can't. What comfort do we have for unbelievers? You can't comfort them. You can
preach the gospel to them. That's what we want to do. But
that's no comfort to unto the Lord, don't you? The Lord Jesus
Christ first must comfort a man. Look over here before we get
into the text right quick. Just look over to your writing.
Isaiah 61. Look in Isaiah 61. Here's what was said of Christ
Himself. Here's what He said the Father sent Him to do. Look
in Isaiah 61. The Spirit of the Lord God is
upon me, because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings
to the meek. He has sent me to bind up the
brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening
of the prison to them that are bound. to proclaim the acceptable
year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort
all that mourn." That's Christ's business. If you're mourning
this morning, and you need Him, you need to know that your sins
are washed away. Only He can comfort you. If you're
a poor lost sinner, in doubt of it all, only He can comfort
you about that. Look what he says in verse 3,
"...to appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them
beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment
of praise for the Spirit of heaviness, that they might be called the
trees of righteousness, the planet of the Lord, that He might be
glorified." You know, he may send the preacher to speak, but
you know he's the one that does the conferring. He says, comfort
ye, comfort ye My people. But it's Him, it's Him that does
the comforting. He does it through His preachers,
He does it through His Word, but He's the One that does the
comforting. And He says here in verse 2 of
my text, Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem. And this Word literally
reads, Speak ye to the heart. Speak to the heart. of my people."
Why does he say, speak to the heart? Well, you know the heart
is the chief portion of a person. If you get to the heart, and
you comfort the heart, then everything else will take its place. The
heart is what houses the understanding, the affection, the will. It's
the chief part. And if you can get to that heart,
and you can comfort the heart, Everything else is alright. Ain't
you found that to be so? And I tell you what comforts
the heart. I tell you the only thing that reaches the heart
is the Word of God. Speak it. Speak it. What are
you going to speak? Preach the Word. Preach the Word. My words are Spirit and they're
alive. They'll reach the heart. His
promises, they reach the heart. Speak to the heart. Speak to
their heart. And when the heart's comforted, everything else will take its
place. I've been sick in my body. Some of you have too. But I wasn't
sick in my soul. So it didn't really matter. I've
been broke financially, but I've been rich in Christ. So it didn't
matter. Ignorant, your understanding
darkened, but in Christ you're wise. So it didn't matter. The heart. Speak ye to the heart. Speak ye comfortably. He gives three things here in
verse 2 to speak about. And I'll do this quickly and
we'll close. Three things. First of all, he says you tell
them these three things. Number one, that her warfare
is accomplished, her iniquity is pardoned, and she hath received
of the Lord's hands double for all her sin. Cry unto her that her warfare,
that word means her fight, her struggle, her labor, her hardship,
her battle, her campaign, is accomplished. It's finished. It's completed. It's fulfilled. It's effective. It has come to
an end. Now listen to me just a minute.
How in the world could it be said that our warfare is accomplished? I feel myself like I'm in a war,
don't you? This warfare between good and
evil, faith and unbelief, darkness and light, Christ and the devil
is going on in our souls. Well, how can He stay here and
tell her that her warfare is accomplished? I want to show
you two Scriptures. And I think Scripture is the
best interpreter of Scripture. So let me show you two Scriptures
to see what He said. Look here in Daniel chapter 9. Look in Daniel chapter 9. If
you go to Ezekiel, turn one more book over and you'll find Daniel
chapter 9. There's a battle, brothers and
sisters. There's a war that has already
been fought. And it's been won. It's finished. And Daniel is going to tell us
what it is here in verse 24 of Daniel chapter 9. Look at this. Seventy weeks are determined
upon thy people, thy people, thy people. You just found them
everywhere. And upon thy holy city to finish the transgression
and to make an end of sins. Now look at this. To finish the
transgression. To make an end of sin. And to make reconciliation for
iniquity and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up
the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the holy place. Now,
therefore, hear and know, therefore, and understand that from the
going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem..."
Now, get your mind away from the little town over there in
the Middle East. We're not talking about that
Jerusalem. We're talking about another Jerusalem. We're talking
about a heavenly Jerusalem. The Jerusalem that's above, that's
free. The church, the kingdom. I'm
going to restore it, rebuild it. Unto the Messiah and the
Prince there shall be seven weeks and threescore and two weeks.
The streets shall be built again, and the wall even in troubled
times. And after threescore and two
weeks shall Messiah be cut off. He was cut off out of the land
of the living. For the transgression of my people
was He stricken. But not for Himself, but for
somebody else. Now see what He's been saying
here? He's saying the Messiah is coming. And when He's come,
He's going to do some things. What's He going to do? He's going
to finish transgression. Whatever sense that is, in the
widest application you can imagine, He's going to put an end to transgression.
And He's going to make an end of sins, and make reconciliation
for iniquity, and bring in an everlasting rapture. He's going
to do that when He comes. Now look in John chapter 19 and verse 30. Here's the Lord Jesus Christ,
the Son of God in our humanity, and He's hanging upon Calvary's
tree. And man, what a battle it's been.
What a battle it's been. He has taken on our sin. He has
taken on the devil. He has taken on the wrath of
God. The curse of the law. And what a battle he's fought.
Right to the death. Right to the death. And if you'll
permit me to say this, without thinking it blaspheming. What
he's doing is saying, I'm fighting to see if I can put away transgression. I'm fighting to see if I can
make an end of sin and its damning power. I'm fighting to see if
I can make reconciliation. And boy, they're on the cross.
He says, I thirst. And they give him vinegar to
drink. And Jesus wouldn't drink of it. In verse 30 he said this,
when Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, it is finished. You know what that word finished
means? To accomplish. It's the same word that I read
to you in my text. Tell my people that her warfare
is accomplished. What's accomplished? Sin has
been put away. Reconciliation has been made
for iniquity. Sin has been punished. The devil
has been defeated. And the Lord Jesus Christ made
war on death and the grave. And He triumphed. He says it's
finished. I love those verses that talk
about Jesus Christ put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.
Don't you? He made reconciliation. Paul
tells us that when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by
the death of His Son. He destroyed death. He said,
O grave, I'll be your plagues. I'll be your victory. He got
the victory. And in doing so, He brought in
an everlasting righteousness. And somebody says, aren't we
like this? Oh, wretched, miserable men that
we are. Then we get to thinking, oh,
if I can just struggle harder, If I can just suffer longer,
if I can be just more faithful, I could be conquered. I could
be healed. Brothers and sisters, listen,
that battle is over. It's over. The only way, one
dear man said, that you and I as children of God are allowed to
consider our sins that are past is that they have been put away.
They have been purged. How do we know that? Because
He said, tell you that. It's accomplished. John Bunyan in grace abounding
to the chief of sinners said, one of the abominations that
I find within my heart to this very day is that I am continually
leaning to the works of the law to be justified before God. And
he counted that abomination. And he said, it afflicts my soul.
It makes me heavy in my spirit. And he said, the only remedy
I can find that will comfort me is to be told over and over
and over again that the work is finished. It's finished! Isn't that confident,
brothers and sisters? It's confident if you know yourself
to be a sinner. It's confident if you see sin
mixed with everything you do. And if you feel your shame and
your nakedness, and you know yonder on the cross before you
ever had a being, before you ever did one thing for the glory
of God, The Son of God brought in a righteousness to clothe
the shame of our nakedness. To justify us before God. And it's a righteousness that's
based upon, it's a righteousness that is His own obedience unto
death. You know why He said it's finished?
What are you going to add to that? The word means full. Comfort ye, comfort ye, my people. The second thing goes somewhat
with this. Tell her this, cry unto my people
and tell her that her iniquity is pardoned. Her iniquity is
pardoned. I looked this word up and I looked
at some commentators on this. Here's what it says, here's how
it literally reads. This word pardon, it means to
be pleased, to be satisfied with. And it literally reads like this,
to be pleased in the satisfaction of a debt. To be pleased in the satisfaction
of a debt. And he seems to be saying this.
Tell my people that I am pleased in the satisfaction my Son has
made for her iniquity. Tell her that I'm pleased in
what He's done. I'm not seeking for anything
from her. The work is already accomplished,
and I'm satisfied with it. Tell her that. Tell her that.
Look right over to your right again. Isaiah 53. This is exactly what he's saying
here. Look in verse 6. Isaiah 53, look in verse 6. All we like sheep have gone astray. We've turned every one of us
to his own way. And God, the Father, Jehovah,
hath laid on Him, Christ the Lord, the iniquity Of us all. And in verse 7 it says, He was
oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth.
He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, as a sheep before
her shears is done, so He opened not His mouth. He was taken from
prison and from judgment, and who shall declare His generation?
For He was cut off out of the land of the living. Why? For
the transgression of My people was he stricken." See what God
is telling us. I put your sins, listen My people,
I took your sins from you and I put them on My Son up on Calvary's
tree. And I punished Him for them.
I punished your sins in Him. I punished Him because of your
sins. Look what He says in verse 10.
Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him. He hath put him to grieve. When thou shalt make his soul
an offering for sin, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure
of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. Verse 11, he shall
see of the travail of his soul. And what was God's reaction?
What was his whole attitude about it? He says, I'm satisfied. That's what he's saying to tell
his people. I sent my Son, and He's made full satisfaction for
your sins. It's no trouble for me now to
forgive you, to have mercy upon you, because I'm satisfied with
the sufferings and with the blood and with the death of my beloved
Son. Brothers and sisters, you get
a hold of that. You get a hold of that in your heart now. You'll
get some comfort out of that. I want all of us to seek to please
God, to serve Him acceptably. But this whole business that
we're doing something to commend ourselves to Him, that's nothing but self-righteousness.
Christ just did it all. And God is pleased with what
He did. And don't try to add anything to it. Tell her her warfare is accomplished. Tell her that I'm so satisfied
with what my son did on her behalf regarding her sin. One last thing we'll pick up
here this afternoon. Back over in our text. Look at
this. She hath received, my people
have received of the Lord's hands double for all her sins." Now,
I have tried for years to figure out exactly what this means.
And I think I know. I think I know. It doesn't mean
that the Lord's punished her twice what she deserves. If He'd
give us just what we deserve, that's bad enough, ain't it,
Bill? It can't mean that He's punished us double than what
our sins deserve. But here's what I think it means,
and let me quote some verses of Scripture to you. Double.
Double. The Lord's given us double for
our sins. Listen to John 3.14.15. Listen
to this. As Moses lifted up the serpent
in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that
whosoever believeth in Him should not perish. Ain't that a blessing? That's a blessing in itself.
They should not be cursed. They should not be lost. They
shall not be cast out. They shall never perish. That's a blessing. That's one
blessing. But he adds something else to
it. He doubles the blessing. Not only will they never perish,
but look at this, they shall have everlasting life. That's a doubling. That's a doubling. I blessed them double for their
sin. And listen to this in Ephesians
2, "...you hath he quickened who were dead in trespasses and
sin." To be quickened! Oh, that's a blessing, ain't
it? When you find out He's the only one who can do it. And He's
done it for you and to you. That's a blessing. But He doesn't
stop there. Listen to this. Not only has He quickened you,
but He's raised you up to sit together in heavenly places in
Christ. He's taken you from the grave
of death, and you're sitting with Christ in heavenly places.
A double blessing. Not only what God has saved us
from, but what He saved us to. That's a double blessing. Not
only what He's taken away from us, thank God for that, but what
He's given us. He's given us beauty for our
ashes. The oil of joy for our mourning,
and the garment of praise for the Spirit of heaviness. He takes
our sins and gives us His righteousness. That's a double blessing. He
takes our curse and gives us His blessings. He takes our hell
and gives us heaven. Oh my, a double blessing. Listen
to Romans chapter 5. If through the offense of one
man many be dead, much more, much more, that's Paul's favorite
word, much more the grace of God and the gift by grace which
is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto me. By one man's offense, death reigned,
death reigned, death reigned. Much more. They which receive
abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign
in life by one, Jesus Christ the Lord. Sin hath reigned unto
death, but grace reigns through righteousness by Jesus Christ. A double blessing, a double portion. Was it Elijah? that asked Elijah
that hard thing when he was ready to be caught up. The Lord's going
to send his chariot. And Elijah said, ask me a blessing. And Elijah said, I want a double
portion of what you've got. Well, now, he said, you've asked
a hard thing. It's a hard thing, isn't it? The Lord give us a
double portion. Comfort ye, comfort ye, my people,
sayeth your God. Tell them I've sent my beloved
Son to be their Savior, their Deliverer, and He's fought all
their enemies and triumphed over them, that my justice is well
pleased and is satisfied. He has made atonement for sin.
All manner of sin and blasphemies will be forgiven. And tell them
this, I not only have delivered them from going down to the pit,
but I am raising them up to the highest heavens. I have not only
purged their sins, but I have given them righteousness. Tell
them this and speak it to their hearts. And keep on speaking
it until they get it in their hearts. And there they will be
comforted. God bless these words. Let's
pray.