open your Bibles tonight to Isaiah
chapter 40. Isaiah chapter 40. Verses 1 and
2, Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. Speak you 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. I want to bring a short message,
a brief message tonight before we Obey our Lord's command to
remember Him in this ordinance. And I would like for us to say
three things in these two verses. First, here is a command from
the God of all comfort. Comfort ye, comfort ye, my people,
saith your God. A command from the God of all
comfort, Comfort ye, comfort ye my people. I have three points
under this heading. First, it is a command given
to those that God has charged with feeding his sheep. This is the work of a pastor.
It is to comfort God's people. I said it is the work of a pastor,
and we see in this chapter the Lord Jesus Christ himself. presented
to us as the shepherd. If you notice in verse 11, he
that is Christ, he shall feed his flock like a shepherd. He shall gather the lambs with
his arm and carry them in his bosom and shall gently lead those
that are with young. He is the good shepherd, the
great shepherd, and the chief shepherd. But he has under-shepherds
of his flock, and it is to these that the God of all comfort speaks
and says, comfort ye, comfort ye my people. When I said that
he is the God of all comfort, you recognize, of course, that
I take this name from the scripture in 2 Corinthians chapter 1 verses
3 and 4, where the apostle said, Blessed be God, even the Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God
of all comfort. We see in that verse of scripture
that the Father, God the Father, is spoken of or designated the
God of all comfort. But we also know this is one
of the titles of the Holy Spirit. The Lord Jesus Christ, you remember,
told his disciples, I will pray the Father and he shall send
you another comforter. So God the Father is our comforter. God the Holy Spirit is our comforter. But when our Lord said that he
shall send another comforter, And that word which is translated
comforter there is the same word that's translated advocate in
1 John 2, 1, and there it speaks of the Lord Jesus Christ. So
we know this command is from God, the God of all comfort,
God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Number
two, it is a command given to comfort a specific people. Comfort ye, comfort ye my people,
saith the Lord. This is not a command to comfort
all the world. It is a command to comfort God's
people, God's children. I watched an interview this past
week of a pastor, and he was speaking of the people in Chicago,
and he made this comment. He said, we know that we are
all God's children. And in my mind, there's a big
difference between a politician saying that we are all God's
children and a pastor. a pastor, a man that is called
of God to preach the gospel, there's a big difference between
the two. Because a pastor, if I heard
a pastor say that, and I did, and if I was a lost person hearing
a pastor say that, I believe that would give me a completely
false idea about God. That we are all the children
of God, no. The Lord Jesus Christ, he spoke
to some, and he said, you are of your father, the devil. Now,
for a politician to say that, I think I'll excuse him. We are
all God's creatures. You know, God hasn't called politicians
to comfort his people, has he? He hasn't called politicians
to expound the word of God. He's called pastors, shepherds,
He told Peter, feed my sheep. That's the work of an under shepherd
to feed the flock of God. Our Lord told those people to
whom he said, if you are of your father, the devil, he told them
because they said, God is our father. God is our father. That's what they said. And the
Lord Jesus Christ said unto them, if God were your father, Do you
say God is your Father? If God were your Father, you
would love me. You would love me. For I proceeded
forth and came from God. You see, God's people love Christ. And they do so because He first
loved them. Comfort ye, comfort ye my people. God's people love the Lord Jesus
Christ. The Apostle Paul said, if any
man loved not the Lord Jesus, he said, anathema maranatha. In other words, let that person
be cursed. God's people are those that he
chose, and he chose those that he chose because of his love. If you follow this out, this
is the beginning, the fountain, that is the love of God, and
then the election of God, and then the covenant of God in giving
those that he loved and he chose unto Christ. And he coming into
this world and redeemed his people with his blood. The scripture
says he loved the church and gave himself for it. You know,
this is taught all the way through the Word of God, isn't it? When
the high priest, when he went in on the great day of atonement
and sprinkled that blood on the altar and then came out and confessed
the sins, it was of the congregation of Israel. It was a congregation
of Israel that he represented. He didn't represent the whole
world. There were Hittites and Moabites
and all kinds of ites that we read about. But his work had
to do with the congregation of Israel, the people of God. Christ, Paul said, loved the
church and gave himself for it. You see here, she is called by
the name Jerusalem. Notice that, speak you comfortably
to Jerusalem. Now what does that remind us
of? Well, it reminds us in the New Testament where the Apostle
Paul used Jerusalem and Mount Sinai. He used those two women,
Hagar and Sarah, as types of two covenants. Hagar from Mount
Sinai was a covenant of works and Sarah represents the covenant
of grace. And Paul goes on to say there
that we all are as Isaac, children of promise. And he says in that
passage of scripture, the Jerusalem that is above. He said the Jerusalem
that is below, which was the same as Hagar in that covenant
that God made at Mount Sinai, is in bondage, he said, even
unto this day. But the Jerusalem that is from
above, that is the covenant of grace, is free. Comfort ye, comfort ye my people. And third, the command is, first
of all, it is a command given to those that God is charged
with feeding His sheep. It is a command given to comfort
a specific people, His people. And it is a command given to
speak to the heart, to speak to the heart. This is what is
meant by these words, speak you comfortably, comfortably. Notice if you have a Bible that
has a marginal reading, that number just before the word comfortably,
you look in your margin to the heart, to the heart. Don't just fill the intellect
with doctrine. Speak to the whole man. Now in
the scripture, you know the heart, it signifies the mind, the affections,
and the will. Speak ye comfortably to my people. In other words, speak to the
heart of God's people. And I'm convinced that the only
way The only way to do this is to preach Jesus Christ and Him
crucified. I don't care which doctrine in
the Word of God, and we know there are many. There are many
doctrines I could just mention to you. I won't take that time.
But they all center in Jesus Christ. And don't just fill my
mind with various doctrines. But I like the words that we
sang just a few minutes ago. And these words were inscribed
on the tomb of Charles Spurgeon. E'er since, by faith, I saw the
stream. Thy flowing blood supplies. Redeeming blood has been my theme
and shall be till I die. And that should be true of every
preacher, every one every under shepherd that God commands to
feed to comfort his people. So that's first of all, here's
a command from God to comfort, from the God of all comfort,
rather to comfort his people. Second, here is a truth about
God's people. Here's the truth about God's
people. We will always, while we are
in this world, need comfort. As long as we are in this world,
we will need comfort. Our Lord told his disciples,
in the world, you shall have tribulation. And in the book
of Acts, the apostle Paul encouraged those new believers, telling
them that we must, through much tribulation, enter into the kingdom
of God. As long as God's people, as long
as you, as long as I, am in this world, We need comfort. We need comfort. Comfort ye,
comfort ye my people. Why do I say that? As long as
God's people are in the world, they will experience things,
we will experience things that call for the need of comfort. There will be things in God's
providence that certainly Call for comfort. You say, well, like
what? Well, like sickness. Like sicknesses. Sickness of the body. Deaths. Separations. Disappointments. Discouragements. As long as we
are in this world, we will need comfort. God's providence. We talk about God's good providence. It's all good. It's all good
providence. But sometimes we think of it
as not as good. But we know in our hearts it's
all good providence. I read a message last night by
Charles Spurgeon on providence. And he used as his text, the
very hairs of your head are all numbered. And he spoke about
a mother, a mother who loves her child, what all she would
do for that child. But no mother has ever thought
and ever cared for a child so much that she actually numbered
or counted the numbers of hairs on her baby's head. God knows. He knows exactly. As long as
we are in this world, there will be things in God's providence
that will call for comfort. There will be things produced
by the fact that there's a constant warfare with the flesh, a constant
warfare with the flesh that God's people experience, and it will
call for comfort. John Bryan, who was a contemporary
and friend of John Gill, he said this, regeneration, regeneration,
a new birth, is not an amendment of our corrupt nature, but the
implantation of a contrary principle in our souls. Nor hath the old
man lost any of his members. The flesh is still the flesh.
That's what it means, isn't it? That which is born of the flesh
is flesh. Nor hath the old man lost any
of his members. He is complete in all his parts,
though his dominion is taken away. The flesh in its disposition
continues to be the very same it ever was. And therefore the
same thoughts, you ever have any evil thoughts? You ever have
any bad thoughts? Ever have any thoughts of pride
or lust or Covetousness, or you ever have any of those thoughts?
Where does that come from? It doesn't come from the new
nature. That which is born of God cannot sin. Comes from that
old nature. That which is born of the flesh
is flesh. Those members, we still have
them. The same thoughts, the same desires. You ever have any evil desires?
Ever come into your mind? Ever cross your thinking? Of
course, the same corrupt motions and the affections, they may
arise and be stirred up as were before grace was wrought in the
soul. The very same emotions and affections
and temptations and sinful thoughts They're still with us. And because
of that ongoing warfare between the new man and the old man,
that brings discouragement, doesn't it? Sometimes we get discouraged
because of something we've said or something we've done or something
we've thought. We need to be comforted. Where's
that comfort going to come from? It's going to come from the gospel
of Jesus Christ. that His blood cleanseth us from
all sin. Past sin, present sin, future
sin. You say, Preacher, you shouldn't
say that. That's gonna give people a license to sin. God's people
are not looking for a license to sin. God's people, what we
are looking for is to overcome sin, is to walk in the Spirit
and not fulfill the lust of our flesh. And not only is that warfare,
is that a reason that we need comfort? But there's always these
temptations by Satan that will call for comfort. Have you ever
gone to the Lord in prayer and some thought come into your mind
that you just, oh, where in the world did that come from? You
know the scripture speaks about his fiery darts, don't they?
And I think it was Martin Luther made a statement something like
this. He said, we cannot keep birds from flying over our heads. You know, these thoughts, we
can't keep them. But he said, we can keep them
from building a nest in our head, in our hair. Yeah. Those thoughts
come, but by the grace of God, the shield of faith, right? those
fiery darts. But as long as we're in this
world, we need comfort. And the third part of my message
is this. Here's the message of comfort.
Her warfare is accomplished. Her iniquity is pardoned. She
has received from the Lord's hand double for all her sins. Let's break that down. First
of all, her warfare is accomplished. Now what does that mean? Well,
it means that Christ, who is her head, that is, he's the head
of the body, the church, he's the head, that he has already
conquered all her enemies. And as Paul wrote to the saints
in the church at Rome, the God of peace shall bruise Satan under
your feet shortly. Shortly. Her warfare is accomplished. It means that Christ, who is
the captain of her salvation, has already taken possession
of heaven as the forerunner. And just as sure as he is there,
just as sure as the head is there, every member of his body will
be there also. Comfort ye, comfort ye my people. And here's the comfort, her warfare
is ended. Number two, her iniquity is pardoned. The Hebrew word translated pardoned
has a primitive root which means to be pleased with. God is pleased
with the payment of her sin debt by her surety. Her iniquity is
pardoned. God is pleased with the payment
of her sin debt by her surety. And how do we know How do we
know that God is pleased with that payment? He raised him from
the grave. He justified him. The Lord's
sufferings to accomplish God's purpose was pleasing to him. That is, he satisfied God's justice. That verse in Isaiah 53, it pleased
the Lord to bruise him. That's the reason the suffering,
the death of the wicked, does not please God. His eternal death,
by his sufferings, he'll never please God. His sufferings will
never please God, never satisfy God, never pay the sin debt. But the Lord Jesus Christ did. And number three, she has received
of the Lord's hand double for all her sins. The word double,
she's received of the Lord double for all her sins. I've heard
different men and I've read different men explain this in different
ways, but I would just ask this tonight. How do you put a value
on the sufferings of Christ? who is God and therefore infinite. How do you put a value on His
sufferings, His payment, His blood? I know that He accomplished
what God purposed for Him to accomplish, but the church of
the Lord Jesus Christ may take comfort in knowing that God Almighty,
now listen, is more than satisfied, more than satisfied for all her
sins by the death of her surety. Comfort her, comfort her. Her warfare's ended, accomplished. Her iniquity is pardoned. She
has received of the Lord's hand double for all her sins. And this is the message that
comforts the heart of God's children, the message of Christ and him
crucified. We're going to, at this time,
obey our Lord's command that he has given unto us to observe
this supper. eat this bread and drink this
cup in remembrance of him. I'll ask the man.