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Comfort My People
Text: Isaiah 40:1, 2
1. Comfort, comfort, my people says your God.
2. Speak kindly to Jerusalem. Proclaim to her –
that her hard labor has been completed,
that her sin has been paid for,
that she has received from the hand of the Lord double for all her sins.
Sermon
What is troubling you that you are seeking comfort now? A guilty conscience? A love lost? A beloved’s death? A terminal illness? A messed-up life? A persecuted faith? What?
Whatever is distressing you now, give praise to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, as it says in 2 Corinthians 1:3-5: “Blessed is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us at the time of our every tribulation, so that we are able to comfort those in every tribulation with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God; for just as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so also through Christ does our comfort abound.”
You may be troubled, but you are not alone. People like you have suffered troubles, adversities, illnesses, guilt, and a soul’s distress throughout the history of this world. Such misery and pangs of conscience have plagued mankind as a consequence of sin since the day Adam disobeyed the Lord to eat the forbidden fruit. Sin entered this world through the one man, Adam, and death entered this world through sin. And so death came to all people, because all sinned. Romans 5:12 states this in this manner: “For this reason just as through one man sin came into the world and death through sin, even so death came to all people because all sinned.” Accordingly Moses wrote in Psalm 90:9, 10: “For all our days slip away in your outpouring of anger, We finish our years like a brief murmur. The days of our years have in them seventy years -- And if by strength, eighty years. And the pride of them is heavy labor and vanity, For it passes swiftly and we fly away.”
Only One can comfort us with a comfort that will comfort our troubled mind and soul -- the Lord God of heaven and earth, who comforts us through Christ Jesus. As Exodus 34:6, 7 say: “The Lord, the Lord God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, preserving love for thousands, forgiving perversity and transgression and sin.” He comforts us through his Word that holds out to us in Christ his love, compassion, grace, faithfulness, forgiveness, salvation, and eternal life in heaven. Having these, we can say as the apostle Paul said in Romans 8:18: “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared to the glory that will be revealed in us.” In and through Christ Jesus we have eternal life and blessedness in heaven that far over shadow the troubles that plague us now. And as Philippians 3:20-21 state: “For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also are eagerly awaiting a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body into the same form of his glorious body by virtue of the power by which he is able to even subject all things to himself.”
Through his Word the Lord comforts us with this good news that centers in Christ. Through Christ Jesus we are comforted with the assurance that in him the glories of heaven are ours no matter what we may suffer on earth. For this reason the Lord has always wanted his servants, -- his prophets, apostles, and ministers -- to comfort his people with his Word of Christ.
The Lord had his servant Isaiah proclaim his command to comfort his people. Furthermore, the Lord had Isaiah declare in three parts what message his servants were to preach and teach to comfort his people. His servants should speak kindly to Jerusalem, meaning the Lord's people, and proclaim to them (1) that their hard labor has been completed, (2) that their sin has been paid for, (3) that they have received from the hand of the Lord double for all their sins.
The three parts of this message have remained a gospel of comfort for the Lord’s people of all ages since Isaiah wrote these words. The Lord’s people during the Old Testament era of history were sinners just as we are. They committed sins of all kinds. Because of their sins they deserved everlasting damnation in hell. They were, then, a people without hope and comfort. The Lord, however, took pity on them. From the days of Adam to the days of Isaiah the Lord continued promising his people a Savior, who would deliver them from the devil, the guilt of their sins, and hell. Thus the Lord told Isaiah, and all his servants since then, to comfort his people. His servants should speak kindly to the people’s hearts, proclaiming first that their hard labor had been completed; second, that their sins had been paid for; and third, that they were receiving from the hand of the Lord double for all their sins.
The Lord wants his people comforted that their hard labor had been completed. Even though that blessed end still lie in the future when Isaiah wrote these words, it was as good as done and completed. For the Lord would surely accomplish it. His people’s warfare with the devil, their bondage in sin, and the consequences of sin that brought them so much wearisome toil, suffering, and misery in life were as good as over. They would not forever suffer and be miserable as they were on this earth. For Christ, the Savior of sinners, would deliver them from all evil and grant them a blessed end.
The Lord’s people would have this blessed end because their sins have been paid for. The Lord told Isaiah to comfort his Old Testament people with this knowledge, even though at the time of Isaiah’s writing Christ’s coming still lie seven hundred and fifty years in the future. Since the Lord had decreed that Christ would come and give his innocent life as the one perfect sacrifice for the sins of the world, that payment for sin was as good as paid for even then.
In Isaiah 53:5, 6 the Lord foretold what the payment of Christ would be: “But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment for our peace was upon him; and by his stripes we are healed. All of us like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the Lord laid on him the iniquity of us all.” In suffering the punishment for everyone’s sins, Christ did die as the ransom to set the Lord’s people free from their sins. The Lord wants his people comforted with this good news.
The Lord also wants his people to hear the comforting message that they receive from him double for all their sins. Paul stated this gracious truth by saying in Romans 5:20: “Now law entered in along side, so that the sin might be present in abundance; but where the sin was present in abundance, the grace was present in greater abundance.” As great as the Lord’s people’s sins were, his grace was twice as great. He gave his people a double portion of his undeserved love for all their sins.
“Comfort, comfort, my people says your God.” By his grace, through the faith he has given you in Jesus Christ, you today are one of his people. He wants you to be comforted with the same message of comfort that has comforted all previous generations of his believers in Jesus. For our Lord is the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles.
He wants you comforted that your hard labor has been completed. Yes, you are still living in this world and you are not yet in heaven, where you will be free of the devil and his evil schemes. Your life, because of sin, is still hard and toilsome. And you still experience misery, rejection, a broken heart, illness, disease, the onset of death, or whatever your trouble now may be. Yet the Lord wants you comforted with the comfort that your hard labor has been completed. It is as good as done, because Christ has opened the gates of heaven to you, in which you already have an everlasting rest and peace.
This is yours even now, because your sins have been paid for. The Lord wants you comforted with this assurance. Christ Jesus, as promised, came into this world and gave his life into death as the atoning sacrifice for your sins, as well as for the sins of the whole world.
So take your finger, and touching your temple, say to yourself: “The sinful thoughts this sinful mind is guilty of have been paid for with the blood of Jesus, my Savior.” Take your finger, and touching it to your lips, say to yourself: “The sinful words these sinful lips have spoken have been paid for with the blood of Jesus, my Savior.” Hold up your hands, and looking at them, say to yourself: “The sinful things these hands have done have been paid for with the blood of Jesus, my Savior.” Be comforted in knowing this.
Your sins have been paid for with the blood of Jesus, your Savior, because from the Lord you have received a double portion of grace for all your sins. No sin you are guilty of is so great that our Lord’s grace is not twice as great. The sum total of all your sins is not so great that our Lord’s love for you is not twice as great. Where your sin has abounded the Lord’s grace has abounded even more. Psalm 103:10-12 tell us: “He has not dealt with us according to our sins; Nor has he repaid us according to our perversities. For like the height of the heavens over the earth, His lovingkindness prevails over those who fear him. As far as the east is from the west, So far has he removed our transgressions from us.”
What was troubling you when you came to Christian Inconnect and linked on to this devotional sermon? Whatever it was, may the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, have comforted you in whatever your trouble with the comfort that overflows through Christ. For in Christ your hard labor has been completed, your sins have been paid for, and you have received a double portion of God’s grace for all your sins. As a result, heaven is yours and a blessed freedom of rest from all that troubles you now awaits you.
Amen.
1. Comfort, comfort, my people says your God.
2. Speak kindly to Jerusalem. Proclaim to her –
that her hard labor has been completed,
that her sin has been paid for,
that she has received from the hand of the Lord double for all her sins.
Sermon
What is troubling you that you are seeking comfort now? A guilty conscience? A love lost? A beloved’s death? A terminal illness? A messed-up life? A persecuted faith? What?
Whatever is distressing you now, give praise to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, as it says in 2 Corinthians 1:3-5: “Blessed is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us at the time of our every tribulation, so that we are able to comfort those in every tribulation with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God; for just as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so also through Christ does our comfort abound.”
You may be troubled, but you are not alone. People like you have suffered troubles, adversities, illnesses, guilt, and a soul’s distress throughout the history of this world. Such misery and pangs of conscience have plagued mankind as a consequence of sin since the day Adam disobeyed the Lord to eat the forbidden fruit. Sin entered this world through the one man, Adam, and death entered this world through sin. And so death came to all people, because all sinned. Romans 5:12 states this in this manner: “For this reason just as through one man sin came into the world and death through sin, even so death came to all people because all sinned.” Accordingly Moses wrote in Psalm 90:9, 10: “For all our days slip away in your outpouring of anger, We finish our years like a brief murmur. The days of our years have in them seventy years -- And if by strength, eighty years. And the pride of them is heavy labor and vanity, For it passes swiftly and we fly away.”
Only One can comfort us with a comfort that will comfort our troubled mind and soul -- the Lord God of heaven and earth, who comforts us through Christ Jesus. As Exodus 34:6, 7 say: “The Lord, the Lord God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, preserving love for thousands, forgiving perversity and transgression and sin.” He comforts us through his Word that holds out to us in Christ his love, compassion, grace, faithfulness, forgiveness, salvation, and eternal life in heaven. Having these, we can say as the apostle Paul said in Romans 8:18: “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared to the glory that will be revealed in us.” In and through Christ Jesus we have eternal life and blessedness in heaven that far over shadow the troubles that plague us now. And as Philippians 3:20-21 state: “For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also are eagerly awaiting a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body into the same form of his glorious body by virtue of the power by which he is able to even subject all things to himself.”
Through his Word the Lord comforts us with this good news that centers in Christ. Through Christ Jesus we are comforted with the assurance that in him the glories of heaven are ours no matter what we may suffer on earth. For this reason the Lord has always wanted his servants, -- his prophets, apostles, and ministers -- to comfort his people with his Word of Christ.
The Lord had his servant Isaiah proclaim his command to comfort his people. Furthermore, the Lord had Isaiah declare in three parts what message his servants were to preach and teach to comfort his people. His servants should speak kindly to Jerusalem, meaning the Lord's people, and proclaim to them (1) that their hard labor has been completed, (2) that their sin has been paid for, (3) that they have received from the hand of the Lord double for all their sins.
The three parts of this message have remained a gospel of comfort for the Lord’s people of all ages since Isaiah wrote these words. The Lord’s people during the Old Testament era of history were sinners just as we are. They committed sins of all kinds. Because of their sins they deserved everlasting damnation in hell. They were, then, a people without hope and comfort. The Lord, however, took pity on them. From the days of Adam to the days of Isaiah the Lord continued promising his people a Savior, who would deliver them from the devil, the guilt of their sins, and hell. Thus the Lord told Isaiah, and all his servants since then, to comfort his people. His servants should speak kindly to the people’s hearts, proclaiming first that their hard labor had been completed; second, that their sins had been paid for; and third, that they were receiving from the hand of the Lord double for all their sins.
The Lord wants his people comforted that their hard labor had been completed. Even though that blessed end still lie in the future when Isaiah wrote these words, it was as good as done and completed. For the Lord would surely accomplish it. His people’s warfare with the devil, their bondage in sin, and the consequences of sin that brought them so much wearisome toil, suffering, and misery in life were as good as over. They would not forever suffer and be miserable as they were on this earth. For Christ, the Savior of sinners, would deliver them from all evil and grant them a blessed end.
The Lord’s people would have this blessed end because their sins have been paid for. The Lord told Isaiah to comfort his Old Testament people with this knowledge, even though at the time of Isaiah’s writing Christ’s coming still lie seven hundred and fifty years in the future. Since the Lord had decreed that Christ would come and give his innocent life as the one perfect sacrifice for the sins of the world, that payment for sin was as good as paid for even then.
In Isaiah 53:5, 6 the Lord foretold what the payment of Christ would be: “But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment for our peace was upon him; and by his stripes we are healed. All of us like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the Lord laid on him the iniquity of us all.” In suffering the punishment for everyone’s sins, Christ did die as the ransom to set the Lord’s people free from their sins. The Lord wants his people comforted with this good news.
The Lord also wants his people to hear the comforting message that they receive from him double for all their sins. Paul stated this gracious truth by saying in Romans 5:20: “Now law entered in along side, so that the sin might be present in abundance; but where the sin was present in abundance, the grace was present in greater abundance.” As great as the Lord’s people’s sins were, his grace was twice as great. He gave his people a double portion of his undeserved love for all their sins.
“Comfort, comfort, my people says your God.” By his grace, through the faith he has given you in Jesus Christ, you today are one of his people. He wants you to be comforted with the same message of comfort that has comforted all previous generations of his believers in Jesus. For our Lord is the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles.
He wants you comforted that your hard labor has been completed. Yes, you are still living in this world and you are not yet in heaven, where you will be free of the devil and his evil schemes. Your life, because of sin, is still hard and toilsome. And you still experience misery, rejection, a broken heart, illness, disease, the onset of death, or whatever your trouble now may be. Yet the Lord wants you comforted with the comfort that your hard labor has been completed. It is as good as done, because Christ has opened the gates of heaven to you, in which you already have an everlasting rest and peace.
This is yours even now, because your sins have been paid for. The Lord wants you comforted with this assurance. Christ Jesus, as promised, came into this world and gave his life into death as the atoning sacrifice for your sins, as well as for the sins of the whole world.
So take your finger, and touching your temple, say to yourself: “The sinful thoughts this sinful mind is guilty of have been paid for with the blood of Jesus, my Savior.” Take your finger, and touching it to your lips, say to yourself: “The sinful words these sinful lips have spoken have been paid for with the blood of Jesus, my Savior.” Hold up your hands, and looking at them, say to yourself: “The sinful things these hands have done have been paid for with the blood of Jesus, my Savior.” Be comforted in knowing this.
Your sins have been paid for with the blood of Jesus, your Savior, because from the Lord you have received a double portion of grace for all your sins. No sin you are guilty of is so great that our Lord’s grace is not twice as great. The sum total of all your sins is not so great that our Lord’s love for you is not twice as great. Where your sin has abounded the Lord’s grace has abounded even more. Psalm 103:10-12 tell us: “He has not dealt with us according to our sins; Nor has he repaid us according to our perversities. For like the height of the heavens over the earth, His lovingkindness prevails over those who fear him. As far as the east is from the west, So far has he removed our transgressions from us.”
What was troubling you when you came to Christian Inconnect and linked on to this devotional sermon? Whatever it was, may the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, have comforted you in whatever your trouble with the comfort that overflows through Christ. For in Christ your hard labor has been completed, your sins have been paid for, and you have received a double portion of God’s grace for all your sins. As a result, heaven is yours and a blessed freedom of rest from all that troubles you now awaits you.
Amen.
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There are many kinds of Christians. Whichever kind you may be, you can never hear enough of the good news that God has for you in Christ or be reassured too often of your final destination and eternal dwelling place. With this book its author Rev. JC aims to do just that for you by means of the inspired words and message of God as written through his apostle John.
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