Word of Salvation – Vol. 46 No. 47 – December 2001

 

Comfort for My People

 

Sermon by Rev. R. Adams on Isaiah 40:1-2

Scripture Readings: Mark 1:1-8; Isaiah 39:1-8 & 40:1-11

Suggested Hymns: BoW 146; 252; 193; 490; 530

 

Congregation of the Lord Jesus,

On any Sunday in Advent, it’s fitting to remember John the Baptist.  He emerges from the Jordan wilderness as ‘a voice of one calling: “In the desert prepare the way for the LORD…” (vs.3).  Thus, he announces the advent… the coming… of God’s Son into the world.  All the Gospels are unanimous in ascribing these words from Isaiah’s prophecy to the coming of Jesus Christ.

Today, God’s eternal message is again couched in Isaiah’s words: “Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.”  The gospel I’m to preach today is about “comfort” from your God.  I preach “comfort to you” from your God, because it is written in the pages of Scripture.  I preach “comfort to you,” because it’s what God Himself says, for “the mouth of the LORD has spoken” (vs.5).  And where the Lord speaks and is heard by His people, that’s where you find life and salvation and comfort – for men and women and children of faith, who “live by every Word that proceeds from the mouth of God” (Deut.8:4).

The whole world is God’s.  He reigns supreme in the affairs of all men.  Before God, people are like “grass that withers and flowers that fall.”  In such a context, verse 8 says, “the word of our God stands forever.”  And God’s everlasting Word contains a particular comfort for those whom He calls “My people”… for you, and for me… and for others whom He has chosen… for those whom He has purchased for Himself, in the Biblical sense.

But before I go on to tell you how this Gospel is to comfort you… first, a word of warning:

1.  A WARNING AGAINST BEING SMUG WITH GOD’S WORD

You have probably heard it said that God’s Word should “comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable.”  In that sense His Word should make you feel uncomfortable, if for instance you justify your slack spiritual life by appealing to God’s compassion for sinners in spite of what we may do.  For the same God can speak of both heaven and hell – both salvation and damnation – in one breath, and by the one Spirit.  God does, indeed, speak comfort, but not in the absence of conviction of sin.  For “John came… in the desert region… preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins…” (Mk.1:4).  And again today it is as though the Lord commands me to speak tender, loving words to you, His people – kind words of comfort – yes, but I must not make you too comfortable.

For instance, I’m to warn you, “Don’t follow the example of Hezekiah,” in Chapter 39 of this prophecy.  The Bible records Hezekiah as saying, “The word of the LORD you have spoken is good”, for he thought, “There will be peace and security in my lifetime.”  You see, Hezekiah felt smug and comfortable because he had made a peace treaty with Babylon.  Like a fool, he thought he could feel secure and draw comfort from God’s Word.  Not because he had made peace with God, mind you, but because he had in the first instance made friends with the world.  If you’re tempted to follow Hezekiah’s lead, then there is no “comfort” for you in this Gospel.  Only the sure knowledge that God’s word cannot be broken.  It will accomplish its grim purpose in your life, one way or another.  For “at the name of Jesus every knee [shall] bow… and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord” (Phil.2:10-11).  But God would rather draw you to Himself.  “Like a shepherd tending His flock… He [wants to carry] His lambs close to His heart” (vs.11).  In this respect, God’s words do hold comfort for you.  Isaiah’s prophecy IS about peace and comfort – but you have to approach it from the right direction.  Whatever you do, don’t, for example, think that you’re safe in your own sense of self-satisfaction and self-sufficiency.  Don’t treat God’s “words of comfort” with smugness in your heart.

Now, bearing this in mind, how does this passage help us approach God’s comfort from a right perspective?  In order to find out, we look in turn, at what each section of the text has to say:

2.  [Your] hard service has been completed

“Speak tenderly to Jerusalem… proclaim to her that her hard service has been completed…” (vs.2a).  This prophecy from God was given through Isaiah.  When it was written it was foretelling the future return from exile of the Old Testament Jews.  Hence, we understand God to be saying- before it even happened, i.e., while the Jewish exile was still some years in the future – “tell [Judah in exile] that her hard service has be completed,” or as the KJV has it “tell her that her warfare accomplished.”

This “hard service” or “warfare” can mean a combination of the difficulties brought about by the exile itself, together with what caused the exile in the first place, that is, the rebellious struggle in the peoples’ hearts against God.  Yet, in spite of their rebellion, the Lord is promising a time when “their hard service [will have] come to an end.”

However, this prophecy was only partially fulfilled in the life of the Jewish exiles.  It had to await the advent of our Lord Jesus to open up the glorious intent of God for His people.  God is still speaking to us today, through this eternal Word, and He is saying in effect that our warfare with Him is over!  He no longer has an argument with US, because of JESUS.

In the words of the apostle Paul, “Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behaviour” (Col.1:21).  But now… your God has made friends with you.  He is satisfied that justice has been done.  He has sacrificed His own Son for you Jesus lived His life and died His death, for you and for me… as our “stand-in.”  Indeed, as we read in 2Corinthians 5:19, “God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them.”  Through Jesus’ blood, God has made peace with you and me.

In other words, through His grace and mercy and power, God has poured out His Spirit of love into our hearts, to sprinkle us with Christ’s blood, and to create faith within us, i.e., faith in Jesus Christ.  God aims to reconcile His people to Himself, heart and soul.  So we hear Isaiah say, “You who bring good tidings to Jerusalem…  say, ‘Here is your God!  See, the Sovereign LORD comes with power… and his reward is with him…’” (vss.9-10).

That doesn’t mean we’re now guaranteed a life of comfort, free of strife and trouble.  As I’ve already said, this prophecy has been only partially fulfilled.  We’re still waiting for our Sovereign LORD to appear with power.  We, as God’s people, still have to deal with something akin to our own exile from God.  God still has to bring us through to His promised haven of rest.  We’re still secretly longing for that rest.

In the meantime, perhaps, we aren’t too concerned about a dimly remembered exile in Babylon.  Nor about what Isaiah or Paul might have said.  Maybe it’s to our spiritual disadvantage, but we worry more about our children, or our job, or grocery prices rather than thoughts about “peace” with God.  What is more likely to keep us awake at night is that worrying lump – is it cancer?  Or that quarrel with a girlfriend, or that frustration in our marriage.  The things that cause us to lose sleep come with our daily brush with the rat-race, where according to Haddon Robinson, “only rats seem to win.”

In spite of this, you and I can benefit from the peace that exists between God and His people.  We can begin to enjoy the comfort that it guarantees.  Listen to what Jesus said, “In this world you will have trouble… but take heart!  I have overcome the world” (Jn.16:33).  Just as with God’s people to whom He first spoke… we, too, are to understand our exile from God to be nearly over.  The end of all things is close at hand.  The Day of the Lord’s second coming is approaching.  On that day, you and I will know, first hand, that God keeps His Word.  Yes, tell my people, that [their] hard service has been completed…!”

3.  [Your] sin has been paid for

“Speak tenderly to Jerusalem… tell her that her sin has been paid for” (vs.2b).  God’s Law no longer condemns us.  Christ has lived, and died, and risen again – to pay the penalty for our sin under Law.  But do you see that this was necessary because you are a guilty sinner?

Think about it.  Do you call yourself a “poor, guilty, sinner?”  What do you confess, when you call yourself “a poor, guilty, sinner”?  Maybe you think of yourself as a sinner in a very shallow and general sense… that includes you, and me, and five billion other people on this planet?  Generalising like this may help you feel safe…  but it is also dangerous.  You have to be more specific.

What is it that you personally, and specifically do?  Do you blaspheme God’s name?  Do you despise God’s Word?  Are you disrespectful of authority?  Are you a murderer… an adulterer… a cheat… or a liar?  Are you greedy and therefore, envious of what others have and you don’t?

The Law says we’re all guilty of such things, each in our own, perverse and destructive way.  Some of us are open about it, while some of us are more furtive.  That is to say, some of us show it outwardly, by our words and our actions, while others do so inwardly, in our thoughts and desires.

But Jesus “entered the Most Holy Place… once for all by his own blood… having obtained eternal redemption” (Heb.9:12).  God has put away the sins of all His people by the sacrifice of His Son.  After Hezekiah was cured of his illness, which you can read about in Isaiah Chapter 38, he admitted, “Surely it was for my benefit that I suffered such anguish.  In your love you kept me from the pit of destruction; you have put all my sins behind your back” (Is.38:17).

Essentially, what this means is that you, or I, or any other believer, may be guilty sinners.  Nevertheless, God will never hold us accountable for our sin, because He held His own Son accountable for us.  He punished Jesus for our sins, and now His sense of justice is fully satisfied.

4.  [You] “have received from the LORD’s hand double for all [your] sins”

“Speak tenderly to Jerusalem… tell her that she has received from the LORD’s hand double for all her sins” (vs.2c).  Strictly speaking, this verse refers to punishment for sins committed.  It is speaking prophetically of the sins that brought about the exile to Babylon, and how the exiled Jews will receive ample punishment from the Lord for it.  But already the prophecy has promised that the days of hard service are over, and sin has been fully paid for.  So all that remains for the Lord’s people now, is “forgiveness.”

It remains for the Church to receive from the Lord’s hand, not just “enough” forgiveness, but (dare I say it?) “double” forgiveness.  That’s how it is with the Gospel, more forgiveness than we have sins to forgive.  Imagine, there’s no sin so great that God cannot redeem it, no sin so great that Jesus didn’t atone for it on the cross.

The comforting word God brings to you, His people – i.e., you who have faith in Jesus Christ is that for all your sins, for all your rebellion against God, for all your turning away from Him, in fact, for more than you know and are able to confess, you have received “double” forgiveness from the Lord’s hand.  There is ample forgiveness in Jesus to cover all your sins, and more.  In fact there’s so much forgiveness to go around, that God treats us as though we have never sinned.  What an amazing thought.  Surely as we bask in this much forgiveness, we can even comfort others with the good news.

Conclusion:

To cap off what I’ve been saying about the advent of Jesus into our world, do you know that your only hope is in the forgiveness of the One who stood in your place, when God acted against your sin?  So do you trust in Christ, outright?  Do you trust that God, whose sense of justice demanded your eternal judgment, has now been satisfied?  Do you trust that in Christ you’re not only pardoned, but God declares that you are perfectly righteous in His sight – as though you had never sinned?  Instead of leaving you as His enemy – and fully deserving of His wrath – our gracious God has made you and me heirs in Christ, fully deserving of His benefits.  You and I have been lifted from “RAGS to RICHES,” as it were.

If you cast all your hope on this Gospel, then truly, it is your comfort.  And God says to you and to me: “Comfort, my people… [your] hard service has been completed…  [your] sin has been paid for… [you have] received from the LORD’s hand double for all [your] sins.”

In the name of Jesus…!

Amen!