lifted up with strength, and
cried to the cities, all flesh is Christ, and behold, you're
God. Who speaks here? Who's given
the instructions? Well, verse 1 tells us, Comfort
you, comfort my people, sayeth your God. This is the Lord God
speaking. And to whom does he speak? To
his prophets. Paul said in Hebrews 1, God who
at Senvra times and in Diablos manners spake to our fathers
by the prophets. God always speaks to people through
his prophets. He gave some prophets, some apostles,
some evangelists, some pastors, teachers to speak to the people. God does not speak audibly to
the people. He speaks through his prophets.
And there's a two-fold work, there's a two-fold message. I'm
going to show you that. Turn to Psalm 103. We read these
passages, and too often we read over them so quickly we don't
really see what they're saying. Psalm 103. In Psalm 103, verse 7, it says,
"...the Lord made known his ways to Moses." His purposes, His
ways, His plans. He made known His acts to the
children of Israel. There's a world of difference
there. There's a whale of a lot of difference. God's ways are His purposes,
His mysterious. God moves in mysterious ways
His wonders to perform. And to Moses, He made known His
ways. But the scripture says his ways
are past finding out, and they are, unless they're made known. He made known his ways to Moses,
but all Israel heard and saw were his judgments. They remained
in darkness, in unbelief, in rebellion. All they got were
judgments. But Moses, God taught him his
ways. He cried out to Israel. He warned
Israel. He spoke to Israel through Moses.
But he taught Moses. Let me show you that again in
Psalm 147. And where we miss it is right
in the margin there in Psalm 103, it refers you to Psalm 147,
verse 19 and 20. Turn over to Psalm 147, verse 19 and 20. That same difference in messages
again, Psalm 147, verse 19. He showeth his word, his words
to Jacob. Who is Jacob? I preached on this
just a few days ago, the prince. Remember Jacob wrestled with
the Lord. And he said, I'll not let you
go till you bless me. And he said, what's your name?
He said, Jacob. Your name shall no longer be
Jacob, but Israel, a prince of God. And God made known his word. He talked to Jacob. Jacob said,
what's your name? He said, my name's Wonderful.
Wonderful. His name was Wonderful, Counselor
of the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father. But the people of Israel,
what did they hear? They heard his statutes, his
laws, his judgments. But Jacob, sons of Jacob, that's
what we are. We're called in the Bible in
so many places, sons of Jacob. Sons of Jacob, more than once,
twice, or three, four, five times, sons of Jacob. Spiritual Israel,
sons of God. Well, tell you what you say to
those sons of God, here in verse 1, you comfort them. You comfort
my people. There's a time for rebuke, has
to be, and reproof, and warnings, and examination, but every day
is a day for comfort. It's a day to be taught His ways,
and His words, and His comfort. We need to be, in verse 2, He
says, speak ye comfortably. And that reference is to the
heart, speak to the heart of my people. Not just to their heads, not
just with doctrines, always instructing them, instructing them, what's
wrong with what to do and what's right with what to do and duties,
but speak to their hearts. And the reason I need my heart
blessed, the reason I need the pastor to speak to my heart and
speak comfortably to me, is because it's my nature to doubt. It's
my nature to fear. It's my nature to complain. It's
my nature to be melancholy, and yours too. That's our nature. We have this treasure, this gospel. We have this treasure in an earthen
vessel, and that earthen vessel is subject to heat and cold and
pain and sorrow. and attacks. And so we need to
comfort God's people. Paul said in 2 Corinthians 4,
we have this treasure in a fragile vessel, in a fragile earthen
vessel. And that vessel, he admitted
his own. He said, I'm troubled, often
troubled. I'm perplexed. I'm puzzled. I'm persecuted. I'm even cast
down, but I'm not destroyed. Speak comfortably to my people.
I've got a message for my people. And I want you to speak to their
hearts. And here's what you tell them. Verse 2. You speak comfortably
to the heart, to my people, to Jerusalem. That's the city, Jerusalem,
which stands for Jerusalem on high. And you cry unto her, her
warfare is accomplished. The war is over. The battle is
over. Sin, Satan, the world, death
is conquered. Christ said on the cross, it's
finished. Victory is won. Thanks be unto
God who giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
And our five major enemies have been met and conquered. You know what they are? If someone
were to ask you, you know, you read in the files my enemies,
my enemies, my enemies. David's not talking about flesh
and blood. Really, David could handle those
files. He showed that with Goliath. He showed that with the armies
of the Philistines. He wasn't disturbed by human
beings. My enemies. I've got five, and
my Lord has conquered every one of them. I'll show you what they
are. The first one is in Galatians 3. Galatians 3. This is the first one. The curse
of the law. Galatians 3 verse 10. Now listen. For as many as are of the works
of the law are under the curse, It is written, Cursed is everyone
that continueth not in all things that are written in the book
of the law to do them." We're talking about God's law. We're
talking about God's law, the law that reaches to the heart,
to the mind, to the imagination, to every faculty. And we have
sinned. The scripture says to offend
in one point of the law is to be guilty of all of it. Nobody here can say he's just
offended in one point. He's offended in every point.
And we're under the curse. Let every mouth be stopped and
all the world become guilty. But look at verse 13. But Christ
hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse
for us. For it is written, Cursed is
every one that hangeth on a tree. Christ bore the curse of the
law on Calvary's cross. He was cursed for us. You know,
cursed is everyone that continueth not in all things written in
the book of the law to do them. Well, our Savior, our Lord, did
continue in all things written in the book of the law to do
them, perfectly, perfectly before God. In the flesh, as a man born
of woman, He obeyed the law perfectly, satisfied God's justice righteousness
and imputed to us perfect holiness. So the curse is removed by his
life, by his death. So that enemy is gone. Comfort
my people. Tell her the war is over. Curse
is removed. Here's my second enemy. It's
sin. Paul said the sting of death is sin. There's no man that doeth good
and sin is not. All have sinned and come short
of the glory of God. But turn to Hebrews 10. Let's
see what the Lord has done for us in this matter, in regard
to this great enemy. In Hebrews 10, talking about
our Savior, verse 14. Now listen to this. For by one
offering, that's his blood and his body, he hath perfected He
has made us perfect, perfect not just for a little while,
a few days on this earth, but forever. Them that are sanctified,
while the Holy Ghost is a witness to us, for after that he said
before, this is the covenant that I will make with them after
those days, this covenant in Christ, the everlasting covenant
of which he is the great shepherd of the sheep. Sayeth the Lord,
I'll put my law in their hearts. I'll write them in their minds,
in their hearts so they'll love my word, and in their minds so
they'll think upon my words, will I write them? And their
sins and iniquities will I remember no more. He put away sin by the
sacrifice of himself. We have no sin. In Christ there
is no sin. The curse is removed. Sin is
gone. The Scripture talks about our
sins being cast into the depths of the sea, cast behind God's
back, separated from us as far as the East is from the West,
and remembered no more. And the blood of Jesus Christ,
God's Son, cleanseth us from all sin. That's comforting. So
I don't have to lie on my bed tonight and weep tears of remorse
and wonder if God's going to send me to hell. I don't have
any sins. You don't either. There is no
judgment to them who are in Christ. Therefore, being justified by
faith, we have peace with God. That enemy is gone. Why are we
worried about it? The curse is gone? Don't read
the law to me. The curse is gone. Don't bring
up my sins to me. They're gone. The third enemy
is Satan. He's an adversary. He's called
in the Bible the accuser of the brethren. He's called That old
serpent, he's called a roaring lion, who goeth about seeking
whom he may devour. Well, he can't touch you and
me. He's not my enemy anymore. He's disposed of. Turn to John
12. My Lord's already taken care
of that gentleman. In John chapter 12, listen to
this, John 12, verse 31. Listen to that, John 12, 31. Our Lord Jesus said, now, John 12, 31, is the judgment
of this world. Now shall the prince of this
world be cast out. And I, if I be lifted up from
the earth, will draw all men unto me. This, he said, signifying
what death he should die. Our Lord is already disposed
of Satan, his power as far as we're concerned. He has no power
over us. Look at John 16. Our Lord said in John 16, 8,
When he is come, the Holy Spirit, he will reprove the world of
sin, of righteousness, of judgment, of sin, because they believe
not on me, of righteousness, because I go to my Father, of
judgment, because the prince of this world is judged. Judged,
defeated, cast out. Christ said he came to me. and
he found nothing in me. When Satan came to Adam, he whipped
him hands down. Satan came to Adam and defeated
Adam and Eve. He came to the second Adam, the
Lord Jesus, forty days in that wilderness, and he turned and
walked away. He found nothing in Christ. Christ
said he found nothing in me. What does that mean he found
nothing in me? He found nothing in me that related
to him. He found nothing in me that was
akin to him. He found nothing in me that he
could accuse. He found nothing in me he could
charge. He just left. That's the third. Here's the
fourth enemy is this world. This world. Turn to John 16,
33. You're already there, but turn
to verse 33. I have spoken unto you." He talked
to his disciples that night about his death and about his going
away and the Holy Spirit coming. I just read that in the early
part of John 16. Then he said in verse 33, "...these
things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace."
Peace, tranquility, calmness. In this world, you're going to
have tribulation. In this world, you're going to
have trial. In this world, you're going to have disappointments.
In this world, you're going to have sickness. But be of good
cheer. I've overcome the world." Now,
here's what somebody wrote. In me, you might have peace. It's true that we have peace
with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, his blood. In Christ,
we have peace of conscience. Our sins are gone. The curse
is removed. Satan's defeated. Our sins are
forgiven. But here he's referring to these
trials and troubles and tribulations that all believers have in this
world, a world that hates God. This world hates God. I saw this
on television for the first time Thursday night. B.C.E. I was watching the millionaire.
Nobody watches that, do you? Who wants to be a millionaire? But the question said this, it
talked about something that happened 500 B.C.E. And the consistent
said, what's B.C.E.? He said that's before the common
era. Is that the word? I don't hear
real good, but I think that's what he said. He said it used
to be before Christ. That's what it used to be. But
it ain't no more. We live in a world that hates
Jesus. They want to remove his name. They want to remove everything
that reminds them of him. That's right. What David wrote
about him over here in Psalm 2. Listen, Psalm 2. They want to do away with the
Ten Commandments. They want to do away with B.C.
I don't know what they're going to do with A.D. That just stands
for one thing. And Old Dominic in the year of
our Lord. They'll have to change something there. But B.C. is
no longer there. They want in God we trust out.
Look at Psalm 2. Where do the heathen rage and
the people imagine a foolish thing, a vain thing, an impossible
thing? The kings of this earth, the
congressmen, senators, and Supreme Court judges, and ACLU, and all
these, they set themselves. And the rulers take counsel together
against the Lord and against his anointed, his Christ. Saving! Let's break their bands
asunder and cast away their cords. We want nothing to do with Jesus
Christ. We want nothing to do with a
sovereign. That's this nation right here. We want nothing to
do with Him. Nothing to do with Him. And what's
God going to do about that? Verse 4. He that sitteth in the
heavens shall last. The Lord will have them in derision.
Let them keep on. They can call it BCE. They can
do away with all the memories and all the thoughts and all
the reminders of God, of Christ. He laughs. And then verse 5,
he'll speak to them in his wrath, and America's priming herself
for total destruction. You wait and see. And he'll speak to them and he'll
vex them, trouble them, he'll trouble them in his sore displeasure. Verse 6, I've set my king on
the holy hill of Zion. That's Christ. I've set my king. And I'll declare the decree.
The Lord said, thou art my son, this day have I begotten of thee.
And he says down here in verse 12, you better kiss the son, lest he be angry. And you perish
from the way when his wrath is kindled just a little. And I
expect his wrath is getting kindled pretty good right now. Against
our perverted, twisted, ungodly nation. That really,
that shocked me. I've seen these things come to
pass, but when BCE popped up, I thought, that's it. That's
it. They don't want any reminder
of Christ. before the common era. I'm glad I was born for
that common era. I was born when Christ was recognized,
and I heard the gospel. I'm glad I heard the gospel.
I know who Christ is. All right, the world's your enemy.
But this goes on and says, believers are in a world that hates God
and hates the gospel. But Christ said, I've conquered
this world. I've overcome this world. And my victory is your
victory, and you have no cause to fear the men of this world,
the forces of evil in this world, or the judgment that will fall
on this world. You don't have to worry about
it. That's right. All right, here's
my fifth enemy, and that's death. In John 11, John chapter 11,
Now don't you believe I'm right, those five major enemies. The
curse, gone. My sin, sting of death, gone. Satan, demons, evil spirits,
gone. This world, under God's judgment,
but there's no judgment to them who are in Christ. You don't
have to worry. When God's righteous indignation and judgment falls
on this earth, you are delivered. But death. It's departed unto
men, wants to die. And Lazarus had died, and Martha
went out to meet the Lord in John 11. And she said to him
in verse 21, Then said Martha unto Jesus, Lord, if you had
been here, my brother had not died. But I know even now, whatsoever
you ask of God, God will give it to you. Christ said, Martha,
Thy brother shall rise again. Martha said, Lord, I know he'll
rise again in the resurrection in that last day. I believe that.
I've got that doctrine down pat. Jesus said unto her, Martha,
I am the resurrection. I am the resurrection. I am the
life. He that believeth in me, though
he were dead, yet shall he live. And whosoever liveth and believeth
in me will never die. Never die. We've already died. We died at Calvary. We're not
going to die. We're going to sleep. We're not
going to die. Death has no power over God's
people. Death has no fear for the children
of God, because His life is our life. He's already died. Oh,
we'll go to sleep. Paul called it a departure. He
called it to be absent from the body and be present with the
Lord. We're going to be with Christ. This body will lie down
and sleep. They put it in a grave, but you
won't be dead. You'd be happier than you've
ever been. You'd be more blessed than you've ever been. You'll
see things you never imagined. You'll hear things. Paul came
back. He went up there. God took him
to glory. God took the apostle. Paul said,
I don't know whether I was dead or alive. I don't know whether
I was in the body or out of the body. I couldn't tell you. But
he said, I know that God took me to paradise. That's in the
word, in Corinthians. And I heard things. It's not
possible to tell you because you couldn't understand. There's
no words. There's no words. There's no
descriptive phrases that can even suggest to you what glory
is like. So death is defeated. O death,
where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?
Thanks be unto God, who giveth us the victory through our Lord
Jesus Christ. So comfort my people. Let's go
back to the text. Tell them the warfare is over.
Tell them the warfare is over. Tell her something else. Tell
her her iniquity is pardoned. You know, one time sin separated
me and my God. That's what he said in Isaiah
59. Your sins have separated you and your God. One time my
sins separated me from God. Now God has separated my sins
from me. That's right. He put away sin
by the sacrifice of himself. And in him there is no sin. So
tell my people that they have no sin. They have no sin. That's the next thing. The third
thing. Tell them this. This is it. I'm going to show
you something. You've probably heard me say this before, but
I'll say it again. She hath received of the Lord's
hand double for all her sins. And one author said that means
full and complete and sufficient satisfaction for all sin, all
payment, all debt, is cancelled, nothing lacking. It's a step
more than that. My people have received of the
Lord's hand, of Christ's hand, double for all our sins. And
top lady caught it in that song, Rock of Ages. Rock of Ages cleft
for me, let me hide myself in thee. Let the water and the blood
from thy ribbon side which flowed be of sin the double cure." Double
cure. Save me from wrath. That's a
pretty good deal, save from wrath. But here's a good deal, and make
me pure. Double. What Adam lost in the
garden, I got back double. The debt he put on us, Christ
paid. But Adam had a righteousness
that failed. God's given us a righteousness
that'll never fail. We're as pure as Christ. Double.
You see that? We have received from the Lord
double. Our debts paid. Our sins are
put away, and they're counseled. But he's done more than that.
He made us like Christ. And the day that Jesus Christ
falls is the day I'll fall. The day Jesus Christ abdicates
his throne, that's when we'll be thrown out. That'll never
be. We're as holy as God. That sounds
a little rough, a phallus, I'm as holy as God, but in Christ
we are, or we can't be with God. We're as holy as God. With God,
with Christ spotless, garments on, I'm as holy as God's Son.
That's the only way he can love us, embrace us, and accept us,
is to be holy as he is. Oh my, well let's look down here
at this verse that says cry, and then that second message.
That's the message from a church. Now he says down here in verse
6, the voice said cry. The voice said cry. And this
is a three-fold message, just like he had a three-fold message
for the church. The warfare is over, her iniquities
pardoned, and she received double for all her sins. Holy is God. Now here's the message for the
world. What shall I cry? All flesh is grass. All flesh
is grass. What is grass? The grass of the
field and the flower of the field is worthless. There's nothing
as worthless as grass. People cut their grass and catch
it in those bags and it's just a burden to know what to do with
it. You know, it's bothersome. It don't serve any purpose. You
just burn it. Law gets you for burning it.
Put it in your garbage can, but it fills it up too much. Just
burdensome. That's what flesh is. It's burdensome. Dust thou art, to dust thou shalt
return. Even the strongest, the wisest,
the most beautiful, are headed for the dust. We spring up as
grass and perish the same way. All flesh is grass. And listen,
and he says, and the goodliness The glory of man, the best man
has is like the flower of the field. God's got some beautiful
roses for Mother's Day. You don't want them now. They're
gone. She won't even save them. She
threw them in the garbage can. They were pretty. They're not
too pretty right now. And that's us. We bloom today
and we're gone tomorrow to the dust. And you think that's harsh,
look at verse 15. Listen to verse 15, now you listen
to this. Behold, the nations are before
God as a drop in a bucket. Drop of a bucket. The nations
are counted as a small dust of the balance. He taketh up the
isles as a very little thing. And Lebanon, the cedars of Lebanon,
are not sufficient to burn, nor the beasts are sufficient for
a burn offering. All nations before him are nothing.
They're counted to him as less than nothing. Vanity. Now that's
pretty plain. Preacher, what's that drop of
the bucket? Did you ever draw water out of
a well? Back in these days, that's the way they drew water out of
a well. And you take a bucket to the
well and set it on the side of the well and you draw that bucket
and then you pour the water in. And as you pour the water in,
a few drops fall on the ground. You don't try to get them up,
just ignore them. They're worthless. That's a drop of the bucket.
You hang it back up there and try to walk away and it drips.
That's what we are, drips. You don't try to save it. You
get plenty more where that came from. What's the rest of the
balance? That's the way they used to weigh
things. You'd go in a country store and they had these weights
they'd put over here on this side, you'd put your sugar or
whatever you bought on that side, like this. But those scales would
sit there and get dust on them. But dust don't weigh. It'd take
a lot of dust to affect that scale's weight. It'd take a lot
of dust to affect anything going on there. And if it did get some,
you'd blow it off. That's what we are in this time. Just a little drip and dust. And any time you think we sovereign
grace preachers are too hard on this flesh, you read that
right there again. You're nothing. I'm nothing.
Until we're in Christ and then we're something. We're sons of
God. But out of Christ, you're nothing. You're just a drip and
dust blown in the wind. Dust you are to dust you shall
return. The world won't even know you're
gone. If you're not in heaven, they're
not going to miss you. Or me either. That's just right. Whew! That's a different message
than what he tells the church. He talks about my people. My
people. Love my people. Tell my people
I love them. Tell my people I forgive them. Tell my people I paid the
debt. But you tell us out there, that
change in B.C. to B.C.E., you tell every one
of them. They're just a drop in the bucket and a dust to the
balance and before God they're nothing. And God will deal with
them in His displeasure. Pass that along. And then here's
the second thing you can tell them. Verse 8, the Word of the
Lord's going to endure forever. The grass withereth, the flower
fadeth. All these things that we count so highly and so wrapped
up in, it's going to fade. But the Word of God, what is
the Word of God? Tell me three things. Quickly,
the Word of God. One's Christ. In the beginning
was the Word, the Word was with God, the Word was God, and the
Word was made flesh and dwelt among us. And we beheld His glory,
the glory is the only begotten of the Father, full of grace
and truth. That's Christ. The second thing of His Word
is the Gospel, the Word of Life. That glorious Gospel that said
Christ loved us and gave himself for us. He who knew no sin was
made sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of
God in him. It's called the precious gospel. And the third thing,
the word of the Lord, is his purpose, his promise. I, the Lord, have spoken it. And Abraham believed that what
the Lord promised, he was able to perform. So you tell him,
flesh, grass. God's word, eternal. his gospel,
and his covenant. And you tell them one more thing.
Hosea, that brings good tidings, you that know the gospel, get
up as high as you can get in the mountains. Jerusalem, that
bringeth good tidings, good news, lift up your voice with strength.
Lift it up, don't be afraid. You say to the cities, behold
your God. And let me tell you something.
He's not talking about Elohim. He's talking about the Lord Jesus
Christ. He's not talking about behold
your God. The world likes to talk about a God. You believe
there's a God? Yeah, I believe there's a God.
I believe there's an Almighty God. I believe there's a God
who rules heaven anyway. He doesn't have anything to do
with what we're doing, but he rules heaven. I'm not talking about... This
here's not talking about Elohim. He's talking about the Savior,
the Lord Jesus Christ. Behold your God. Read the next
verse. Behold, the Lord God will come
with a strong hand, and his arms shall rule for him. That's Christ. His reward is with him. His work
before him. I finished the work you gave
me to do. He'll feed his flock like a shepherd. He'll gather
his lambs in his arms. He'll carry them in his bosom.
He'll gently lead those that are young with young. That's
our Savior. That's the one who became a man.
That's when you tell them, you tell them all flesh is nothing.
You tell them all flesh is nothing. You tell them the word Christ,
the gospel, the promise of God is forever. And you tell them
to behold that word of God. Behold that Christ. And there's
two ways to behold him. Turn to John 19. John 19. And you're going to behold him
both ways. And I love to behold him in these
two revelations. John 19, and strangest thing,
the fellow that declares this is Pilate. The fellow that gives
us this word is that governor of Judea, Pilate, who washed
his hands. That doesn't do it. Look at verse,
John 19, 5. John 19, verse 5. And Jesus came forth wearing
the crown of thorns and a purple robe, a mocking purple robe and
a crown of thorns. And Pilate said, Behold the man,
the man, Christ Jesus, the man, the man who is the Lord from
heaven, who became flesh, dwelt among us. And he stands there,
bone of our bone, flesh of our flesh, our savior, our redeemer,
our representative, our federal head, the man God sent to redeem
men. You behold him in that character.
You've got to behold him in that character. First of all, you
see, we've got to have a savior. We've got to have a substitute.
We've got to have a man born of woman, made under the law,
made flesh, dwelt among us. to fulfill all that God requires.
Now he's saying, my Savior, my Redeemer, my substitute, taking
my guilt and shame and filth and sin, behold Him. But look
at verse 13, that same chapter. When Pilate therefore heard that
saying, Back here, let's read verse 12. And from henceforth
Pilate sought to release him. But the Jews cried out, saying,
If you let this man go, you're not Caesar's friend. Whosoever
maketh himself a king speaketh against Caesar. And when Pilate
heard that saying, he brought Jesus forth and set him down
in the judgment seat, in a place that's called a pavement, but
in the Hebrew, Gabbatha. And it was the preparation of
the Passover and about the sixth hour. And he said to the Jews,
Behold your king! Oh, there he is. The man, Christ
Jesus. We have a king, a mediator, at
the right hand of God, one mediator, and he's the man, Christ Jesus. And that's the gospel that our
Lord asked those Pharisees. He said, what think ye of Christ?
They said he's the son of David. He said, how can he be David's
son and be David's king? You got him? You see him? I do.
I see him. I behold him. Tell them that
message. Behold the man. Behold your King.