I'd like you to open your Bibles
now to the book of Isaiah again, the 40th chapter of Isaiah. Who's speaking here? Who is speaking when he says,
comfort ye, comfort ye my people? Speak ye comfortably, speak to
the heart. Well, this is the Lord God speaking.
This is the living God speaking. I wonder if we have ears to hear
the living God, if we're in tune with his voice today. He's speaking
here. Well, to whom does he speak?
Well, there's no question about it. He's speaking to his prophets. He's speaking to his pastors.
He's speaking to his preachers. Down here in verse 9, he says,
Thou that tellest good tidings to Zion. And down here in verse
9, he says, Thou that tellest good tidings to Jerusalem. The
prophets, that's who he's speaking to. He's speaking to his preachers
and his pastors, the bondservants of Christ. That's the people
to whom our God's speaking. He's speaking to me. The living
God, the Lord of hosts, is speaking to me. And what is his commandment? He says, comfort ye, comfort
my people, speak to the heart, speak comfortably to my people.
Now I know there's a time, and I don't know, most preachers
today feel like that the time is all the time. There's a time
to rebuke, there's a time to reprove, there's a time to exhort.
Paul tells us that, rebuke, reprove, exhort with all long-suffering.
There's a time to to bring men down. There's a time for stripping.
A man will never be clothed till he's stripped. A man will never
be healed till he's sick. A man will never be raised till
he's been slain, the slain of the Lord. There's a time for
that. And there's a time for examination. There's a time Barnard
used to say, once in a while we ought to preach as if everybody
was going to hell and that right soon. There's a time for that.
But this command here is to comfort. To speak comfortably to his people. To speak comfortably. That's
the command. Now who's speaking? Are you listening? God's speaking. The Lord of hosts, the living
God is speaking. And he's speaking to his prophets. He's speaking
to his pastors and preachers. He's speaking to his bondservants.
And he's saying to them to comfort his people. To comfort them. Now, who are his people? Are
you his people? We can't comfort where God has
not comforted first. We can't comfort where God has
not convicted. I'm persuaded of that, where
God has not converted. In other words, I can't cry peace
where there is no peace. That's what the false prophets
did. They cried peace, peace, when there is no peace. I can't
comfort a man in rebellion. I can't comfort a man and unbelieve. I can't comfort a man who's wrapped
in a false refuge and a false security. We've got to decide
here who are his people. Our God speaks clearly, clearly. He said, you, you that tell good
tidings, comfort my people. You that bring glad tidings to
the church and to Jerusalem, you comfort my people, my people. But my people, he says, my people. He doesn't say all people. I
can't get on the radio and say, now all of you out there, like
I heard one preacher this week say, all of you out there, I
want you to know, all of you, every human being, every son
of Adam, God loves you just like you are. No, that's not right
to say that. We can't cry peace when there's
no peace. He says, you comfort my people. You speak comfortably
to my people. You do that. Now let's decide,
are you his people? Are you his people? If you are
his people, I have God's commandment this morning to comfort you and
to speak comfortably if you're his people. Well, let me give
you about five marks of his people. Five or six. Number one, I know
this. I know this beyond a shadow of
a doubt. His people are his covenant chosen people. He said in 1 Samuel
12, it pleased the Lord to make you his people. It pleased God
to make you his people. Turn with me to Hebrews 8. Let
me show you a couple of scriptures over here. First of all, in Hebrews
8. Who are his people? They are
his covenant people, Hebrews 8, verse 10. They are his chosen
people. They are the people upon whom
from all eternity God sent his love, not for anything he saw
in them, not for any merit that he saw in them, not for any righteousness
he perceived in them, not for anything that they would do in
response to God's mercy. But it was solely undeserved
grace and unmerited favor that God in his own love and mercy
sent his affections upon these people. And they're out of every
tribe, kindred, nation, and tongue unto heaven. God has a people
as the stars of the sky and as the sands of the seashore, multiplied
millions of people. God has set his love upon them.
He said, they're my people, but I chose them and made a covenant
with them. Hebrews 8 verse 10. This is the
covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those
days, saith the Lord, I'll put my laws in their minds, I'll
write them in their hearts, and I will be to them a God, and
they shall be to me a people." A people. Whom he foreknew, he
predestinated to be conformed to the image of his Son. Whom
he predestinated to be conformed to the image of his Son, he called. And whom he called, he justified.
Whom he justified, he glorified. What shall we say to these saints?
Well, if God be for us, if we're his people, who in heaven, earth,
or hell can be against us? We're his people. Who are his
people? They're his covenant people.
They're his chosen people. They're the people upon whom
God from all eternity sent his affections and sent his love,
everlasting love. He said, I've always loved you.
I've drawn you with an everlasting love. Our Lord Jesus Christ is
the surety of an everlasting covenant. His blood is the blood
of an eternal covenant. Look at Hebrews chapter 13 a
moment. Hebrews 13, let's look at verse
20, now the God of peace. Hebrews 13, the God of peace
that brought again from the dead. Our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd
of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant,
make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working
in you that which is well-pleasing in his sight through Jesus Christ,
to whom be glory forever and ever. They're his covenant people.
Are you his covenant people? Secondly, they are a redeemed
people. Turn to Matthew 1.21. These people
are not only a covenant people, but they are a redeemed people.
You see, God found them in sin. God chose them while they were
in sin. God committed his love toward
us in that while we were yet sinners. You see, we were children
of wrath even as others, but God, but God who is rich in mercy
for his great love wherewith he loved us even when we were
dead in trespasses and sins. But you see, God has to do something
for these people. He can't receive them as they
are. They've got to be righteous. They've got to be holy. The law's
got to be honored for them. Justice has got to be satisfied.
Who shall stand in his presence? Who shall be brought to his bosom? He that hath clean hands and
a pure heart. God's got to do something for these people. So
in verse 21 of Matthew 1, the angel said to Joseph, Mary is
going to bring forth a son. And thou shalt call his name
Joshua, Savior, Jesus, for he shall save his people from their
sins. These are a redeemed people. Turn to Luke 1, when Almighty
God sent John the Baptist. He was born to that old man Zacharias,
you know. God stopped his mouth so that
it was dumb until after John was born. And after John was
born, Zechariah spoke. And this is what Zechariah said,
verse 67, And his father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Ghost,
and prophesied, saying, Luke 1, verse 68, Blessed be the Lord
God of Israel, for he hath bested, and he hath what? Brought back,
redeemed his people. So who are, God speaks and he
says to the prophet, to the preacher, to the pastor, comfort my people.
Now wait a minute, Lord. I can't cry peace where there
is no peace. I can't comfort the rebel. I can't comfort the
man who's wrapped in the false refuge, in a refuge of lies. My people, who are your people,
Lord? Well, they're my chosen people. They're my covenant people. And there are people who are
washed in the blood. There are people who are robed
in the righteousness of Christ. There are people who are redeemed. Not only that, but they are a
call to people. Now, this thing is not one-sided. God has been reconciled to us.
Turn to 1 Corinthians 1. God has been reconciled to us,
but we have been reconciled to God. Peace has been made between
heaven and earth by the sacrifice of Christ. by the offering of
Christ, by the merits of Christ. But peace has been made in our
hearts by the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit. Yes, he does
love us, but by his grace we love him. A man is not saved because he is
elect. A man is not elected to be saved
whether he ever believes or not. God does seek us, but we seek
Him. God does call upon us, but we
call upon Him. God does love us, but we love
Him. God is reconciled to us, but
Paul said, Be ye reconciled to God. Lay down your shotguns. Put up your swords. Stack your
weapons. Lay down your arms of rebellion.
Submit! Surrender! Unconditionally. I am my Lord's, and He is mine. 1 Corinthians 3, chapter 1 says
they've been called. 1 Corinthians 1, verse 23, I
preach Christ crucified. Paul said, I preach the gospel
of redemption to the Jews, to the religious folks. That's a
stumbling block. To the Greeks, it's sheer nonsense. To the learned, it's nonsense.
But to them that are called, to them who've been effectually
called, to them whose hearts God has spoken, whose hearts
God has opened like he opened Lydia's heart, whose Jericho
walls he has broken down, to them that are called, Jesus Christ
is the power of God and the wisdom of God. Verse 26, For you see
your calling, brethren, you're the call of God, you're the call
of Christ Jesus, you see your calling, brethren, to as many
as the Lord our God hath called. He hath called you by his word,
he hath called you by his Spirit, he hath called you by his gospel,
and you see your calling. Not many wise men after the flesh,
not many mighty and noble are called, but God hath chosen foolish
things of this world. Lord, who am I? Who am I? Turn to 1 Peter 2. Who are his
people? You go out there, you have a
commission, Mr. Preacher. You have a commission. You have authority. You have
a commandment from God himself, thus saith the Lord. You have
a commandment to go out there and comfort my people, and speak
comfortably, and speak to the heart of my people. But Lord, I've got to know who
they are, all right? They're my covenant people. They're
my redeemed people. They've been washed in the blood.
They've been called out of darkness into his light. They've been
called out of rebellion into submission. They've been called
out of the kingdom of self-righteousness to the kingdom of God's holiness.
They've been called out of self-will to bow to God's will. They are
broken people, a contrite people, a submissive people. And he says
here they are a peculiar people. In 1 Peter 2, verse 9, he said
you're a chosen generation, a chosen generation. A royal, kings and
priests, that's what we are. He hath made us under our God
kings and priests. That's something no Old Testament
person, office, and ever occupied was king and priest. But I'm
a king and a priest, a king and a priest, unto my God. That's
right. He's made you a royal, kingly
priest to a holy nation, a holy in Christ. imputed holiness,
but imparted also. They're honest people. They're
truthful people. They're a holy nation. They are
a peculiar people. A peculiar people. They are strange.
The world doesn't understand them. The world doesn't understand
them. They love God. They're sold out
to God. The world does not understand
a truly redeemed person. They understand a religious person.
The world can understand Arminianism and Fundamentalism and Calvinism,
but the world can't understand an object of grace. He's strange,
he's peculiar, because he's not like them. Christ said, you're
not of the world, even as I'm not of the world. The world loves
his own. The world loves those that are
like them. The world understands those that are like The world
can communicate with those who are like them. They understand
them. They're on the same channel. They're on the same wavelength.
But a child of God is so peculiar and so different and so strange
that men do not understand him. They cannot communicate with
him. He's a peculiar person. He's strange. They don't understand
him. They just don't understand him. They understand their kind. They
understand that, but not this grace man, this man who loves
God, who loves his word, who truly loves his people, who's
devoted and consecrated to the glory of Christ. They don't understand
that man. Don't expect them to. You say,
I just can't get along with the world. Well, don't expect to.
Even some of my family members, we meet together, we're together
about five minutes, we run out of something to talk about. You
look peculiar. You're peculiar to them. Peculiar, strange. All right? Not only that, his
people are chosen people. They are redeemed people. They've
been called. Supernaturally, effectually,
they've been called. They've been called. They've
been set free. They've been called to another vocation. They've
been called to another objective. They've been called to another
family. They've been called to another
life. They've been called of God. And they're peculiar. You
find a man who professes to be saved, he's not strange and peculiar
and misunderstood, he's not saved. That's just so. Now, you needn't
try to get along with them, they're not going to let you. Love them,
pray for them, but they're not going to let you because you're
peculiar. And then his people are a tried
people. This is what we're getting into
now in 2 Corinthians 4. They are a tried people. Oh,
how they're tried. Sometimes more than the world.
David had trouble with this, I'll show you in a minute, but
2 Corinthians 4, his people are a tried people. In verse 6, Paul
said, God Almighty Himself, who commanded the light to shine
out of darkness, who in eternity passed, in the beginning said,
let there be light, has shined in our hearts, that same God,
the God of creation, who created the world out of nothing, hath
made you a child out of nothing. God who said, when darkness covered
the face of the deep, God said, let there be light, and there
was light. The whole world and universe was flooded with light.
That same God, in this peanut of a man, this man that's nothing
but a grain of sand compared to the universe, compared to
Almighty God is less than a grain of sand. That God said, let there
be light, and God Almighty gave us the light of the knowledge,
understanding of his own glory, his redemptive glory in the face
of Jesus Christ. That's where it's seen, not in
the law, not in doctrine, not in the church, not in a preacher,
it's in Christ. The light of God's glory, his
redemptive glory is in Christ. But hold on. We have this unspeakable treasure,
this indescribable treasure. We have this treasure, this knowledge
of the glory of God, this knowledge of the redemptive glory of God.
We have it in an earthen vessel, in an earthen vessel. I want
to read you something. I didn't have time to read it
to my class this morning, but it just came to me, a poem here. is but a piece of clay that's
animated by heavenly breath, and when that breath God takes
away, he's clay again by death. Nothing baser than clay is he,
baser than clay is he, for sin hath made him like the beast
that perish. One time, next to the angels,
he was in decree. This beast that thou dost cherish,
worse than a beast is man, who after thine own image made it
first. He became the devil's servant
by sin. Can a thing be more cursed? But
thou didst thyself abase, and put off all thy robes of majesty,
taking man's nature to give man grace. Ye have made him one with
thee. Think about it. Oh, my soul,
he said, God, whose fate in the world was flooded with light,
has spoken in our hearts and filled these old dark chambers
of corruption with the light of the knowledge of his glory. Think about it in the face of
Christ Jesus. But I got this treasure in a
clay vessel, a weak, corruptible, shameful clay vessel. But there's
a reason for that, verse 7, that the excellence of the power may
be of God and not of us. If we didn't know what we were,
we'd get proud. If God didn't keep us whittled
down, we'd take some glory. Yes, we would. You say, not me. Yeah, you of all people. If God
didn't keep us flat on our faces in the dust, we'd take a little
glory. Yes, we would. He says we're
troubled, verse 8, on every side, yet we're not distressed. We're
perplexed, but we're not in despair. I'm perplexed, I really am, but
I'm not in despair. I'm persecuted, but I'm not forsaken. My Lord was forsaken. I've never
known that. God's never left me or you. cast
down but not destroyed. His people are tried." He said,
in this world you'll have tribulation. Old David in Psalm 73, he said,
Lord, I just can't understand it. He said, I'm just about swept
away, my feet are on a slippery slide. He said, here I am, I
trust you, I believe on you, I love you, I rest in you, and
I'm And I'm lonely, and I'm perplexed, and I'm troubled, and I suffer. And those people out there, they
don't have any troubles. They hate you, and they hate
your word, and hate your gospel, but their business is flourishing,
and they're prospering, and their kids are doing fine in school,
and everything's rosy. Lord, I don't understand. How
come the wicked prosper and the godly are afflicted? And the
Lord said, well, David, he said, why don't you run down to the
house and get acquainted with the workers? And instead of looking
at their temporary prosperity, why don't you look at their end?
Why don't you look at their hell? Why don't you look at their conflict
and sickness and death and their fear and judgment and their hopelessness
in eternity?" David said, Oh, I understand. I understand. I quit looking at these toys
and I started looking at reality. Yeah, God's people are tried
people. They mourn over their sins. Listen
to David, my sins are ever before me. You don't mourn over your
sins. Well, you're not his people. His people mourn. Paul said,
oh, the things I would do, I don't do them. The things I would not
do, I do them. Oh, wretched man that I am! Who
shall deliver me from this body of death? Listen to Isaiah, an
unclean man dwelling among unclean lips, dwelling among a people
of unclean lips. Listen to Job, I abhor myself.
God's people, his people, mourn over sin, grieve over sin. And
I'll tell you this, no more. I want you to turn to 2 Samuel.
They have a lot of grief. 2 Samuel, chapter 18. God's people are tried people.
They mourn, they mourn over their sins, and they grieve over their
children. David said one time, Although
it be not so with my house." I got a telephone call from a
man, one of these elders in a Reformed Baptist church out in Texas or
somewhere out there in the West. He wanted to be an elder. He
wasn't an elder, but he wanted to be. He helped start a church.
And some professor of a college there who knew more doctrine
than he knew grace was objecting to this man's ordination as an
elder because he didn't have converted children. I said, how many children you
got, son? He said, one. I said, is he or is she? He said,
is she. I said, well, how old is your
she? He said, 18 months. I said, and
she ain't converted. Oh, my, so David could have never
been a king. According to these modern religionists,
he didn't have converted children. Huh? What says? He said, be not
so with my house. And I'll tell you here, right
here, I'll show you a little grief. In 2 Samuel 18, David
was the king. God put him there. God put him
there. God's king. He's God's king.
No question about it. God said, man, that's my own
heart. He said, that's why. God's king. You want to hear
God, hear David. That's right. And he had a son
named Absalom whose heart was lifted up with pride. Oh, David
loved that boy. Even though he was a proud young
man, even though he was a rebel, David loved him. And David was
busy with the kingdom. David ruled over thousands and
thousands. David had so many responsibilities
and so many things to keep him occupied and busy and working
and laboring and making decisions of the kingdom, economics, military,
the priesthood, all these things, so many things. And this boy
Absalom sat outside the gate, and he had welcomed the people
that came there into the city, and he won the hearts of the
people from his father. His father was so busy about
the kingdom that Absalom had more time to get around with
the people and talk and visit with them and pal around and
answer their needs and all these things. And he won the hearts
of the people away from David. And it wasn't long until their
hearts were lifted up and they said, let Absalom be king. And
David, God's man, was taken down from the throne and run out of
the city. That's right, by his own son. But it wasn't long until
God visted Absalom, and Absalom was brutally murdered, just brutally,
hanging by his hair in a tree, and somebody ran him through
with a spear. Isn't that the way it happened? Ran him through.
And he came and told David. David was so concerned about
his son Absalom, and he came and told him, and in verse 32
of 2 Samuel, he said to the messenger, he said, is Absalom okay? Is
my boy safe? And Cushiah the messenger said,
David, the enemies of my lord the king, and everybody that
rises up to do him hurt, I wish it be unto them just like that
young man hanging from their hair in a tree with their intestines
running out on the ground. And listen to David. And the
king was much moved. His bowels were moved within
him. His heart was broken. And he
went up to the chamber over the gate, and he wept. And as he
walked, he was saying, saying, Oh, my son. Ah, what grief. Oh, my son Absalom. My son, my son Absalom. Good God, I died for you. Oh, Absalom, my son, my son. Ah, you know anything about that?
Do you know anything about that? God's people are an afflicted
people. They are tried people. And I'll
tell you something else, they got troubles in the flesh. They're
not free from the trials and afflictions of this flesh. One
time they came to our Lord, and they said, Lord, he whom you
loveth is sick. He's sick. Lazarus is sick. Darcus was sick and died. Darcus,
who helped so many people and was so gracious and such an important
person in the family of God, she's sick. Epaphroditus, Paul
said, my brother was sick unto death. And on another occasion
he wrote to the church and said, I had to leave trophimus at Miletum
because he was sick. And then God's people are a people
who not only have troubles in the flesh and they're sick, but
they have heaviness of heart. Turn to Romans 9, listen to Paul.
Oh, listen to this apostle. I say the truth in Christ. I
lie not. My conscience beareth me witness
in the Holy Ghost. I have such great happiness.
Such great happiness. I don't understand the theology
that says happy all the time. It's fun being safe, you know.
I don't understand that kind of theology, and I don't experience
that kind of feeling all the time. I rejoice in the Lord,
believe me, and I want you to, and we should. A merry heart
doeth good like a medicine. But my friend, if you're without
heaviness of heart and sorrow over sin and grief over your
loved ones and over people who are lost and over your own shortcomings
and your own dullness in spiritual matters, you've got problems.
That's just right. You've got problems. Your problems
are greater than you know. God's people suffer from loneliness.
Elijah said one time, I'm the only one left. I'm the only one
left. God's people suffer from misunderstanding. Paul said, when I was put on
trial, nobody stood with me. I stood alone, he said. Only
Luke stood with me. Out of all my friends everywhere,
only Luke stood with me. The rest of them left. Think
about that. God's people sorrow. It's no
easier for a believer to give up his wife or husband or child
than it is for an unbeliever. It's no easier from the standpoint
of the flesh. Not any easier. And we don't
sorrow as those who have no hope. But brother, we sorrow. Our hearts
ache too. Well, learn back to Isaiah chapter
40. And God says, I want you to do something now, you preachers.
I want you to comfort my people. called, redeemed, peculiar, strange,
afflicted, and tried people. Well, Lord, what shall I say
to comfort them? What is the believer's source
of comfort? Well, I'll tell you just briefly. I've got to cut
her down. He says in verse 2, tell her that her warfare is
accomplished. Tell my people that life is a
warfare. Believers have many enemies.
We have the enemy of sin, of self, Satan, and the world. But you tell my people this,
that the battle is won, that the warfare is accomplished,
that all our enemies have been engaged by Christ and they've
been whipped, every one of them. That's what you say to them.
The battle's over. You tell them that all of our
enemies, sin, he said, I'll remember their sin no more. Your sins
are pardoned. That's right, they're put away.
Self, Lord, my self is so obnoxious, but I don't stand in my self
before God, I stand in Christ. I don't stand in my righteousness,
I stand clothed in his perfect righteousness. Myself, he who
knew no sin, was made sin for me that I might be made myself
the righteousness of God in him. Satan, the prince of this world
cometh, he said, tried me and found nothing in me. And he's
whipped, he's judged and defeated. And the world, I've overcome
this world. So say to my people that her warfare is accomplished,
that the battle is won, that her master Jesus Christ has engaged
the enemies, and those enemies will soon be under my feet like
they're already under his. That's right. That's what you say. I want you
to turn to John 11. I want to show you something. John 11. Don't be concerned with
this flesh, don't be concerned with this world, don't be concerned
with your sins and yourself and all these things. Be concerned
with Christ because he's engaged the enemy and conquered him.
John chapter 11, let me show you this. Just briefly, Lazarus
had died, and the Lord Jesus came to Bethany, and he stopped
outside town a little ways. And Lazarus was dead and buried
four days, and Martha went out here to meet him. She went out
here to meet him. And she said to him, she said
in verse 33, verse 32, she said to hear Mary said to
him, she said, came where Jesus was and fell at his feet, said,
Lord, now I want to go back to verse 21. Martha said, this is
before Mary came out. Martha went out there. Martha
said, Lord, if you'd been here, if you'd been here, my brother
wouldn't have died. He wouldn't have died. But I know even now,
whatsoever you'll ask God, he'll give it to you. Jesus said, Thy
brother will rise again. She said, I know he'll rise at
the resurrection. And down here in verse 27, she
said, Lord, I believe you're the Christ. Now listen to me,
will you a moment? Martha was very, very orthodox,
like we are. And when she met our Lord out
here, she gave all of her beliefs. She summed them up. She said,
I believe you can heal. I believe if you'd have been
here, you'd have healed him. He wouldn't have died. Very practical. She said, I believe even now
that he's dead, you can raise him. I believe that. Even now. And Christ said, well, he'll
rise again. She said, I believe there's a resurrection coming,
a resurrection day. I believe there's a resurrection
when everybody will rise. But now watch what he said to
her. He said in verse 25, Martha, I am the resurrection. I am the
life. He that believeth in me, though
he were in the grave, yet shall he live. I'm the resurrection. I wonder sometimes, I just wonder
if sometimes we're not taken up with what we believe instead
of whom we believe. Is that possible? Is it possible? Oh, I believe Christ can heal.
I believe Christ can raise the dead. I believe in the resurrection.
I believe the Bible is verbally inspired. I believe the virgin
birth. I believe he died on the cross and was buried in the rose
again. I believe he's coming again and we'll all be raised. But
now wait a minute. He said, I am the resurrection. I am the life. I am eternal life. I am mercy. I am righteousness. I am all
these things. Salvation is in a person, not
in a doctrine. Martha could have just gone out
there and embraced him and said, Lord, it's all right, you're
here, and that's all we need. Because everything's in you,
just don't ever let us be separated from you. And that's what he's
saying here in Isaiah 40, say to my people, speak comfortably.
This life for me to live is Christ for me to die is gain. Life is
Christ. My breath is Christ, my existence
is Christ, my hope is Christ. Everything is Christ. Whether
I live in a shack or a mansion, whether I drive an automobile
or walk, whether I'm clothed in fine clothes or tattered garments,
whether I'm under communism or capitalism, I'm in Christ. He is life. That's what he's
saying there. Comfort my people, say to her,
her warfare, it's over! The battle is won! It's finished! All the enemies are under his
feet, and someday they'll be under yours just like they're
under his. Just give God time! And then say to her, her iniquities
pardoned. My iniquities are pardoned. Look
over here in Romans. Let me show you something. My
sins are pardoned. Some people just want to hang
on to them, you know, but they're gone. He said he cast them into
the depths of the sea. He put them behind his back.
He separated them far as the east is from the west. He remembers
them no more. Why do you keep reminding me
of them? God says he doesn't remember them. Thank God you're
not God. In Romans chapter 4, listen to
this, Romans 4 verse 7, he said, Blessed are those whose iniquities
are forgiven. God doesn't forgive like we do.
We forgive, we say, but you can't forgive if you don't forget.
You can't forgive and hold a grudge. You can't forgive and not speak
to a person. You can't forgive and ignore
a person. You can't forgive and pout. You can't forgive and not be
kind. You're not forgiving anybody,
and are not forgiven consequently. But he said, blessed are those
whose iniquities are forgiven. God says forgiven, forgiven,
whose sins are covered. I said, help me, comfort my people. The man doomed, God will not
charge sin. Oh, wouldn't you like to be like
God? Wouldn't you love to be like God and be able to forgive? God said,
comfort my people, speak comfortably, the warfare is over, the enemy
is whipped, the last enemy shall be destroyed, it's death, they're
all under my feet. It's over. And all of her iniquity,
all of her sins, the sins of doubt and fear and unbelief and
the sins of lust and pride and covetousness and envy and jealousy
and all these sins of bigotry and prejudice and all these sins
of blackness, they're forgiven, they're pardoned. They're forgiven. They're remembered no more. They
won't be brought up. Did you hear? Did you know? Oh, shame on you. God says they're
pardoned. And then he says, tell her this,
that she hath received of the Lord's hand directly from God,
from the throne of God himself, double, double! You know, a fellow, an hour of
debt down at the store, somebody goes down and pays it, and the
man says, how much does the preacher owe? He says, $12.59. That's
what he puts down, $12.59. He just barely paid it. It barely paid. I might be a
little frightened, might be a penny left owing. The man might have
made a mistake, that 2 might have been a 1. Or that 6 might
have been a 7. I know a lady in our congregation
here that owed a bill in Huntington, and she paid it, and they sent
her a bill for 10 cents. The stamp cost more than that.
But it wasn't paid. She owed 10 cents. They kept
sending bills for 10 cents. This is a true story. Ten cents! They spend a hundred dollars
on stamps, get ten cents. And I'll tell you this, but he
said, when I paid your bill, I said, how much is it? They
said, twenty dollars. He said, here's forty. How much does he
owe? A million dollars. Here's two
million. I don't want anything cropping up. I don't want anything
oozing out. I don't want anything brought
up. Here's double! See what I'm saying? Double!
Who died? Christ died. Whose blood was
shed? Christ's blood. Now, you comfort
my people. Don't you let anybody make them
uncomfortable. You slay those dragons that prey upon my people
and talk about righteousness in the flesh and talk about they're
not this, that, and the other. You keep those dragons away.
Those people that talk about feelings and experiences and
decisions and laws and Sabbath breaking and all that foolishness,
you speak comfortably to my people. And you tell them to rejoice,
the battle's over, Christ has already whipped the enemy, and
put him down and subdued him, and he's walking on him, he's
making a show of him, he's marching down the street with the enemy
chained and tied to his chariot. And his people are chariots.
They've been whipped. They've been conquered. They've
been conquered. And all of his iniquities part.
No more. David, you don't have one sin
in the sight of God. Think about it, isn't that something?
You have to say, well, I just thought so, and they'll send
me to hell, but God didn't say it. The blood of Christ atoneth
for all my sins. Is that right? How many sins
send you to hell? Half a one. They're all pardoned. For he said, they have received
double, sufficient double, double for all her sins. little blind
girl. She had never had eyes. She never
had seen. She was born blind. Born blind. And they discovered some kind
of operation or transplant or something when she was about
six or seven years old and took her to the hospital and they
operated, did what they had to do. She spent several days with
bandages on her eyes and finally they took them off in that hospital
room. She could see. Her mother and daddy were there,
and she said, I'd like to go outside. So they took her in
a wheelchair, and they rolled down the balcony of the hospital
there. And there were the rolling hills
and the trees in their magnificent color, yellow, green, red, orange. And the sun was setting, and
the green grass, and the white clouds, and the blue sky. And
she just looked for the first time. She saw the beauty of God's
Handy work. And tears came in her eyes. She
looked up and she said, Mama, why didn't you tell me it was
so beautiful? Why didn't you tell me? And the
mama looked at her and said, well, my dear, I tried. I tried. But you couldn't see. You couldn't see. And that's
what I'm saying to you this morning. I tried. to tell you what it's
like to be in Christ. But men are blind. They're blinded
by Satan, blinded by self, and blinded by their righteousness,
and blinded by their works, and blinded by the God of this world,
so that the beautiful, glorious gospel of Christ cannot shine
in. But when it shines in, oh, the liberty, oh, the freedom,
oh, the rejoicing, comfort my people. And so I say this to
everybody here this morning who's his people. I'm here to comfort
you. I'm here to tell you there's
hope for the hopeless and help for the helpless and strength
for the weak in Christ. That the gospel's God's comfort.
Gospel. No law will ever comfort a sinner,
not an honest sinner. It'll trouble his soul to death.
No rules of righteousness established by a preacher, no covenant hanging
on a church wall, no back-slapping and bragging on how good you
are and how much God needs you to comfort one of God's people.
The only thing that will comfort a sinner is to know that in Christ
his sins are forgiven. The only thing that will comfort
a sinner who is sick in the flesh and going to meet God someday
in death is to know that the warfare is over, the battle is
won. Christ did it. The only thing
that will comfort a man who knows that God Almighty, if he did
what he ought to do, would send us to every one to hell. He's
just when he speaks, righteous when he condemns. The only thing
that will comfort that man is to know that the blood of Christ
is sufficient and double for all my sins.