Where Comfort Is Found

Q: What does the Bible say about comfort?

The Bible emphasizes that comfort is found in God’s promises, particularly in Isaiah 40, which calls for God's people to be comforted. In Isaiah 40:1-4, the Lord commands His prophets to 'comfort my people,' emphasizing that comfort comes from speaking to the hearts of believers. This scripture assures God’s people that their iniquity is pardoned, encouraging them with the truth of God's grace and mercy. The rest and assurance found in Christ are vital as believers carry the burdens of flesh and face tribulations in this life.

Q: How do we know that our sins are pardoned?

Our sins are pardoned because Christ bore them in His body, ensuring that believers are cleansed from all unrighteousness. The assurance of pardon is rooted in the atoning work of Christ, who bore our sins on the cross. 1 Peter 1:19 reminds us that we were redeemed not by corruptible things but by the precious blood of Christ. The Scripture states that our sins are blotted out and remembered no more, which means that they cannot be condemned again—a tremendous comfort for believers who trust in God’s promise of salvation through Christ.

Q: Why is God's comfort important for Christians?

God's comfort is essential for Christians as it provides assurance, strength, and peace amidst life's trials. God's comfort is crucial for Christians because they often endure trials, temptations, and sorrows in life. As stated in Isaiah 40, God speaks to our hearts, offering reassurance that despite our human weaknesses, we have a Savior who intercedes for us. This comfort not only sustains believers in their daily struggles but also assures them of their standing in Christ, giving them hope and strength to persevere in faith.

Q: How does God comfort His people?

God comforts His people through His Word, encouraging them with the promises found in scripture. The primary means by which God comforts His people is through His Word, as preachers proclaim the gospel and the truths contained within the Scriptures. Romans 10:17 tells us that faith comes by hearing, and from this faith, believers derive comfort and strength. Ultimately, it is the promises of God that provide deep assurance that He is with His people, even in their struggles and tribulations.

My subject today is where comfort
is found. Where do you find real, genuine,
lasting comfort and rest? Where is it found? And we're
going to turn to the book of Isaiah for our text, Isaiah chapter
40. I'll be reading the first three
verses of Isaiah chapter 40 on the subject where comfort is
really found. Now, if you have your Bible,
open it there to Isaiah 40 and listen to this scripture. The
scripture reads, Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your
God. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem. Now what that's saying is, speak
to the heart. Not just to their heads, to their
hearts. And speak to their hearts in
a comfortable fashion. and cry unto her, cry unto my
people, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned,
and that she hath received of the Lord's hand double for all
her sins." Double for all her sins. Now, this is not for everybody. This scripture is not for everybody. It's for those who believe God.
It's for those who rest, who have found their rest in the
merits of our Lord Jesus Christ. This promise and this scripture
is written to those who look to the scriptures for their food,
for their strength, for their comfort. And if you're a person
who believes God, who finds your rest and confidence and hope
in Christ Jesus, Then you're going to find in this message
today great assurance and great comfort if you listen. Now that's
the biggest problem, getting people to listen. Our Lord often
said, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear what the Spirit
of God said to the churches. He that hath ears to hear, let
him hear. Do you have ears, spiritual ears,
so you can hear? God anointed eyes so they could
see? A born again, renewed, regenerated
heart so that you can understand? Do you have ears to hear? Then
hear. Hear. Now who's speaking here? Here's
some questions. Who's speaking here? Well, it's
the Lord, your God. That's clear. It says, Comfort
ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. Saith your God, speak
ye to the hearts of my people. What to whom does the Lord speak
here? Well, he's talking to his prophets. This is Isaiah writing
here. The Lord said, Isaiah, comfort
my people. Comfort ye my people. The Lord,
the scripture says the Lord spoke to our fathers by the prophets,
hath in these last days spoken to us by his son. But he calls
them his prophets, his preachers, his shepherds. And God speaks
to the people by his service, by his true serpents. In Ephesians 4, speaking of our
Lord Jesus Christ, he that ascended is the same who descended. In
other words, the Messiah who went back to heaven is the Messiah
who came. He said, I came from the Father
and I go back to the Father. But he that ascended is the same
that descended and he gave to the church apostles and prophets
and evangelists or missionaries, pastors and teachers, that the
child of God might be taught and edified. So the Lord says
to his preachers, to his prophets, to his under-shepherds, he says
to them, you comfort my people. I have some things to say to
my people, and I'm going to say them through you, through my
true prophets. You see, there was a man sent
from God whose name was John. And all the way through the Scriptures,
we have men through whom God speaks. And He speaks to His
people through His servants, through His true preachers. Well,
what's His command? What is commanded here? What
is the Lord saying to His prophets and preachers and teachers? He says, comfort my people. Speak
ye comfortably to my people. Now, there's a time for rebuke.
Nobody likes it, but there's a time for rebuke, there's a
time for reproof, there's a time for correction, there's a time
for self-examination. I know that. But the command
here is to comfort my people. Speak to their hearts that they
might have rest, that they might have peace, that they might know
the truth, that they might have assurance, that they might have
a good hope of eternal life. Speak comfortably to them. And
then the next question is this, well, who are these people to
whom the Lord would have us speak comfortably and to the heart
and comfort them? Well, he says, they're my people.
They're my people. Now, you can't comfort where
God has not comforted. And you can't comfort where God
has not converted. We cannot cry, peace, peace,
when there is no peace. And so the Lord says, you comfort
My people. My people. Who are His people? Well, I'll give you several marks
of His people. Number one, they're His people
by choice. By choice. By divine choice.
Christ said to His disciples, He said, you didn't choose Me.
I chose you. The Lord chose His people. He
chose His bride. Moses wrote of Israel and said
it pleased the Lord to make you his people You see Christ calls
of my sheep, and he says the father gave me these sheep My
sheep hear my voice, and I give them eternal life And he calls
his sheep says I know my sheep and have known of mine my father
gave me these sheep and no man's able to pluck them out of my
father's hand so they're his by choice and And then secondly,
they're his by purchase. He bought them. He bought them. I Peter 1.19 says, For as much
as you know, you were not redeemed. That's bought back. You were
not redeemed by corruptible things such as silver and gold from
your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers,
but with the precious blood of Christ. You're not your own.
You're bought with a price. And oh, what a price he paid,
he gave himself, he gave his life, he gave his blood, he died
for his people. You are not your own, you're
bought with a price, you're his people. He chose you and he purchased
you, he redeemed you. And then there he is by call,
by divine call. Paul said, whom he foreknew,
he predestinated to be conformed to the image of his Son. And
whom he predestinated, he called. He called. He called you out
of darkness into His marvelous light. He called you out of false
religion into His rest. He called you out of your works
into His accomplished work. He called you whom He predestinated. He called and whom He called,
He justified. Psalm 110, verse 3 says, Thy
people shall be willing in the day of thy power. Who are these
people? They're His people. They're His
people by choice. They're His people by purchase.
They're His people by call. He called them. He came and found
them and called them. Like He said, Zacchaeus, come
down. Matthew, follow me. James and John mending nets with
their father. He said, follow me. And they're
His by faith. They're His people because they
want to be His people. They're willing to be His people.
Ephesians 1.13 said, In whom you trusted after you heard The
word of truth. The gospel of your salvation.
So they're His people. Now, why do these people need
comfort? Comfort ye my people, saith your
God. Comfort my people. Speak to their
hearts. God's speaking. He's speaking
to His preachers, His prophets, His servants, His under-shepherds.
And He's telling them to comfort His people. They're His people.
Now, why do they need comfort? Why do the Lord's people need
comfort? Well, three reasons. Number one,
they are sons of God. But they're still sons of men.
And they're still human. And they still bear the infirmities
of the flesh, the pains of the flesh, the sorrows of the flesh,
the temptations of the flesh. Paul said, we have this We have
this treasure. It's a treasure. It's the knowledge
of God. It's a relationship with God.
It's eternal life which He's given to us. But we have this
treasure in earthen vessels. And we know this. We realize
it. We're made aware of it constantly. That's the reason Paul tells
us to mortify our flesh and to keep it under and to push it
down and to crucify it and do all within our power to keep
these passions of the flesh from rising up and overcoming us.
So they need comfort. They're the sons of God, that's
true. But they're still sons of men. And they're still human,
and they still bear about in their body the infirmities of
the flesh. And then secondly, they're a
tribe people. God's people are a tribe people.
The Lord Jesus said, in this world you'll have tribulation.
You're going to have troubles. Trouble in the flesh. You folks
know what trouble is. You people listening to me who
are straightforward and honest and truthful, you children of
God, you know what trouble is. Believers have sicknesses. They
have family problems. They have heartaches. They have
problems with their children. They have personal conflicts
and inward distress and depression and pain and tears This life
is full of pain and tears. And they're tried people. And
then not only that, but thirdly, why do they need comfort? Well,
they're still human. And they're tried and troubled
people. But they're also a persecuted people. They're hated by this
world. Even by members of their own
household sometimes. And by people with whom they
work. They suffer for what they believe. stand solidly and truthfully
for the gospel of God's redeeming grace and for honesty and for
integrity and for righteousness, they're going to be persecuted.
So the Lord commands His preachers to comfort His people. They need
help. They need comfort. They need
it day by day. They need it all the time. They
need to be comforted. Well, what shall I... I'm one
of God's preachers. He called me to preach. I've
been preaching the gospel for almost 42 years now. And I'm
one of those preachers to whom God's speaking here. And I have
a far-reaching minister, people who listen to me by television,
radio, tapes, pulpit. What shall I do to comfort God's
people? He tells me to... He says, you comfort my people. You comfort my people. You speak
comfortably into the hearts of my people. What am I going to
do? How am I going to comfort them?
Should I go to the hospital and rub their heads and go to the
home and tell them things will be better? May not get better
right now. Well, here's the key word. He said, You comfort my
people. Say it to your God. Speak ye
comfortably. Speak. That's the word. Preach.
Teach. Give them the Word of God. It
is His Word that comforts. It is not my words. It's not
my feelings or my ideas or theories or philosophies. It's His Word
that comforts His people. It's his promises that give rest
and comfort to his people. He told Peter, you love me? He
asked him, do you love me? He told him, he said, well, feed
my sheep. Feed my sheep. Well, I feed them. Feed them
the Word of God. Paul told Timothy, preach the Word. Preach the Word. Be instant, in season, out of
season. Preach the Word. You see, faith
comes by hearing. Hearing by the Word of God. Comfort
one another with these words. That's what Paul says writing
in the book of Thessalonians. He said, take these words and
comfort people. Desire the sincere milk of the
word that you may grow thereby. David said, the Lord is my shepherd.
I shall not walk. He maketh me to lie down in green
pastures. What do you suppose those green
pastures are? They are the green pastures of
His Word. feed on grass. God's sheep feed on His Word.
This is the children's bread. He maketh me to lie down in green
pastures. He leads me beside still water. What is the food and drink of
the believer? It's God's Word. It's God's Word. So He says, comfort My people. Comfort My people. Speak to their
hearts and say this to them. This is what you say. This is
what you say to comfort them. The war is over. You know what
it says? Look at it. Isaiah 40 says, Speak
ye comfortably to Jerusalem, say unto her, cry unto her, her
warfare is accomplished. The war is over. Do any of you
remember the end of World War II? Do you remember that? You
remember when World War II was over? I remember it very, very
distinctly. Seems like yesterday. I was in
the service. I was in Okinawa on a ship. I'd been there for a long since
the invasion of Okinawa. And the war was over in August
of 1945, August 14th when they announced the war was over. That
was a few days before my 20th birthday. And I'd been over there
about two years. And the enemy's defeated. Came
over the radio. The enemy is suing for peace.
The enemy is defeated. The war is over. The enemy poses
no more threats. There'll be no more air raids.
There'll be no more bombs. There'll be no more shooting.
There'll be no more bloodshed. There'll be no more dying. Your
danger is past. The war is over. Oh, I tell you,
we nearly went crazy. We were so happy, peace, comfort,
rest, quiet. The next day everything was so
quiet. We turned all the lights on on the ship. We didn't have
to keep the lights off at night. We made all the noise we wanted
to. We sent radio messages. We didn't have to have radio
silence anymore. The war is over. The enemy was
defeated. It's over. Peace. Not afraid anymore. Not going to die over there.
Well, this is what he tells me to tell you, that our spiritual
war is over, and the enemy is defeated. Who's your enemy? Well, Satan's your enemy. But
Satan is defeated. Now, I said this message is not
for everybody. It's for God's people. It's for believers. It's
for those who know God. And Satan poses no threat to
the children of God, none whatsoever. He's defeated. The seed of woman
has crushed his head. The prince of this world is judged.
He's cast out. He's defeated. He has no power
whatsoever in the life of a believer. Not any whatsoever. The enemy
is defeated. What's your enemy? Death is your
enemy. But death is defeated. There is no death. He that believeth
on me, Christ said, shall never die. He'll sleep. He'll depart
from this world someday, go to be with Christ, but he's not
going to die. Death is defeated. Judgment? There's no judgment.
There is therefore now no judgment to them who are in Christ Jesus.
Why? Because Christ took our judgment. He took our punishment. He took our condemnation. There's
no condemnation to them who are in Christ. There's no judgment.
It's over. The war is over. You don't have to be afraid.
You don't have to tremble. You're not in any danger. There's
no threat to your safety. The curse is removed. Christ
has been made a curse for us. You say to my people, comfort
my people, and you say to her, the war is over. The war is over. The enemy is defeated. There
is no threat. You know that woman that was
found in adultery in John chapter 8, they brought her to the Lord
Jesus and they cast her down at His feet. These men all stood
around her. There were lawyers, and Pharisees,
and Sadducees, and Sanhedrin members, and stick legalists,
and moralists, and had their religion in their good works.
And they told our Lord, said, Moses condemns her, says stoner,
the law condemns her. What do you say? You don't remember
the story. Christ stooped down and wrote
in the sand. And then He stood and He said, you that is without
sin, cast the first stone. And then he stooped back down
and wrote in the sand, and they began to leave, from the oldest
down to the youngest. And in a moment, he stood up
and looked around, and they were all gone, all the accusers, all
the enemies. And he looked down at the woman.
There was no one left but him and the woman. And he looked
down at her and he said, Woman, where are your accusers? Where
are your accusers? Doth no man condemn thee? She
said, no man. He said, neither do I. Go and
sin no more. And that's the way it is with
you and with me. Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's
elect? It is God that justifies. Who can lay anything to the charge
of God's elect? Who can condemn? Christ died.
And this is our comfort. You say to my people, the war
is over. Christ the conqueror has defeated
all our enemies. We don't have it in us. Secondly,
you say to her, her iniquity is pardoned. Her sins are all
pardoned. Now, is this not the heart and
core of all our spiritual problems? What is the heart and core of
all spiritual problems? All our sorrows. What's the heart
of it? Sins. Sins. That's your sins. have separated you and your God.
That's the whole problem. The sting of death is sin. The
soul that sinneth shall surely die. There's none that doeth
good and sin is not. There is no difference. All have
sinned and come short of the glory of God. Is that not our
problem? Yes. Well, now you say to my
people, you say to those who believe, to those who are called
and those who have heard the gospel and received it and believed.
Those who rest in Christ's righteousness and Christ's cleansing blood.
You tell them that their sins are all pardoned. All pardoned. Now you can't say this to anyone
else but His people. But you can say it to them. All
their sins are gone. Gone. Why? Because Christ bore
our sins in His body on the tree. He said, I lay down my life for
my sheep. By his righteous knowledge shall
my servant justify many, for he shall bear their iniquity."
You say, her iniquities are pardoned. How were they pardoned? Christ
bore them. He shall bear their iniquity. He bore the sin of many. He was
wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities.
The chastisement of our peace was upon Him. By His stripes
we are healed. And Spurgeon said this, listen,
if Christ bore my sins, I don't bear them. No, I do not bear
them. If He bore them, I do not bear
them. If He died for them, I shall not die for them. My sins cannot
be on Him and on me too. It cannot be that He took my
sin in His body and died for them and left them on me. That
can't be because a thing cannot be in two places at one time.
Our sins are pardoned. What does the Bible say? The
blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanses us from all sins. He said, though your sins be
as scarlet, I'll make them as white as snow. Cleanses us from
all sins. The Bible says our sins are blotted
out. The Bible says our sins have
been separated from us as far as the East is from the West.
The Scripture says our sins are remembered no more. No more. Now you comfort my people amid
their trials and amid their temptations and amid their troubles and amid
their conflicts. With this treasure and earthen
vessels, striving for holiness and to be like Christ and to
glorify Him on this earth. But you say to them, here's their
comfort. The war is over. The enemy has
been defeated. Their sins are pardoned. I'll
never bring them up again. They're put away, they're cleansed,
they're pardoned. I'll remember them no more. Now
listen. Say to my people, they have received of the Lord's hand
double for all their sins. What's our Lord saying here?
He's saying there's a full atonement. It's not scarce. It's not barely
forgiven. It's abundant. It's a full atonement. He is plenteous in redemption. No matter how great the sin,
how great the death, you've got double for all that you owe. Double. You know, most of us,
most of you listening to me, have never had an abundance of
anything, have you? We've had enough. We've had enough.
I know that. The Lord's met our needs. I have
enough. But most of us live from week to week, don't you? I've
lived that way for 40 some odd years. Week to week. Day to day. On what we have. What God supplies.
We just don't have an abundance. We've never had an abundance
of anything. Just plenty. I remember reading a story about
an old Irish lady who had worked and labored and skimped and saved
and done without and raised a family. And in her latter years, her
son took her to the ocean. She'd never seen the ocean. She'd
never stood on a beach and looked at the ocean. And her son came
by and got her and drove her to the ocean. And this dear old
lady was standing there looking at the ocean for the first time.
All her life she'd had nothing. Never seen an abundance of anything.
And you know what she said when she saw that ocean? She said,
well, I'm glad to finally see something there's plenty of.
Her son said, Mama, and you're just looking at the top of it.
It goes deep, deep, deep. And this is what I'm saying to
you. Our Lord's grace and blood and mercy. Plenty of it. He's plenteous in redemption.
His grace is sufficient. He's able to save to the uttermost
them that come to God by Him. You have received of the Lord
double for all your sins. They're paid, not only paid in
full, they're paid abundantly. Abundantly. It's a full atonement. It's a free salvation. Come unto
me all ye that labor and are heavy laden, I'll give you rest.
Eternal rest. That's comfort.

Where Comfort Is Found

What does the Bible say about comfort?

How do we know that our sins are pardoned?

Why is God's comfort important for Christians?

How does God comfort His people?

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Where Comfort Is Found

What does the Bible say about comfort?

How do we know that our sins are pardoned?

Why is God's comfort important for Christians?

How does God comfort His people?

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

Comments

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