Comfort, Comfort Ye My People (Isaiah 40:1-11)

WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.440 --> 00:00:04.360 If you're able to remain standing, please do. If not, feel free 2 00:00:04.440 --> 00:00:08.310 to have a seat. And we're going to give our attention to Isaiah chapter 3 00:00:08.349 --> 00:00:12.630 forty. Right across the page in your hymnal. We just saying one hundred 4 00:00:12.630 --> 00:00:15.990 and ninety eight. I think it's one hundred and ninety seven. Comfort. 5 00:00:16.190 --> 00:00:23.059 Comfort E my people is a hymn based here on Isaaiah forty, the EJ 6 00:00:23.379 --> 00:00:31.219 young commentator on Isaiah, Old Testament, professor and Orthodox Presbyterian Minister. He 7 00:00:31.899 --> 00:00:36.689 wrote when one turns from the thirty nine to the forty chapter, it is 8 00:00:36.729 --> 00:00:40.609 as though he steps out of the darkness of judgment and into the light of 9 00:00:40.729 --> 00:00:46.090 salvation. Let's step into that light together now and hear God's word from Isaiah 10 00:00:46.130 --> 00:00:54.039 Forty. I'm going to read verses one through eleven. Comfort Comfort my people 11 00:00:54.719 --> 00:01:00.880 says, your God, speak tenderly to Jerusalem and cry to her that her 12 00:01:00.000 --> 00:01:07.989 warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received from 13 00:01:07.030 --> 00:01:15.989 the Lord's hand double for all her sins. A voice cries in the wilderness. 14 00:01:15.109 --> 00:01:19.939 Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert, a 15 00:01:19.140 --> 00:01:26.379 highway for our God. Every valley shall be lifted up and every mountain and 16 00:01:26.459 --> 00:01:32.739 hill be made low. The uneven ground shall become level, the rough places 17 00:01:33.409 --> 00:01:38.769 a plane, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all 18 00:01:38.890 --> 00:01:45.049 flesh shall see it together. For the mouth of the Lord has spoken. 19 00:01:46.370 --> 00:01:53.079 A voice says cry, and I said, what shall I cry? All 20 00:01:53.200 --> 00:01:57.079 flesh is grass and all its beauty is like the flower of the field. 21 00:01:59.159 --> 00:02:04.269 The grass withers, the flower fades when the breath of the Lord blows on 22 00:02:04.390 --> 00:02:09.590 it. Surely the people are grass. The grass withers, the flower fades, 23 00:02:10.550 --> 00:02:16.219 but the word of our God will stand forever. Go on up to 24 00:02:16.340 --> 00:02:21.939 a high mountain. O Zion, Harold of Good News, lift up your 25 00:02:22.020 --> 00:02:27.500 voice with strength. Oh Jerusalem, Harold of good news, lift it up. 26 00:02:28.020 --> 00:02:32.330 Fear not, say to the cities of Judah, behold your God, 27 00:02:34.490 --> 00:02:39.050 behold the Lord comes with might and his arm rules for him. Behold is 28 00:02:39.250 --> 00:02:45.719 reward is with him and his recompense before him. He will tend his flock 29 00:02:45.960 --> 00:02:50.479 like a shepherd. He will gather the lambs in his arms, he will 30 00:02:50.560 --> 00:02:58.710 carry them in his bosom and gently lead those that are with young amen. 31 00:03:00.069 --> 00:03:05.590 There are two kinds of comfort in the world. One is temporary and the 32 00:03:05.669 --> 00:03:12.979 other is lasting. The temporary kind is much easier to obtain. You might 33 00:03:13.099 --> 00:03:16.979 share a funny video with a friend, take a quick walk outside, maybe 34 00:03:17.060 --> 00:03:23.539 enjoy an afternoon nap, and these things can genuinely help when you're feeling bad. 35 00:03:23.659 --> 00:03:28.490 They can help you to feel better, and for minor problems they sometimes 36 00:03:28.729 --> 00:03:34.289 do the trick. But more often than not the things that we face in 37 00:03:34.409 --> 00:03:40.370 this world can't be solved with an afternoon nap. These things might soothe for 38 00:03:40.439 --> 00:03:45.280 a moment, they might distract us from our problems, give us a little 39 00:03:45.280 --> 00:03:50.520 bit of a diversion, which can be nice, but for our most serious 40 00:03:50.680 --> 00:03:58.389 problems we don't need distraction, but healing. But of course that kind of 41 00:03:58.469 --> 00:04:04.150 healing is often much harder to obtain. As the weather dries things out here. 42 00:04:04.590 --> 00:04:08.750 If your hands get a little dry, you put on some motion, 43 00:04:09.870 --> 00:04:15.459 typically problem solved, but if you have a tumor, putting hand lotion on 44 00:04:15.660 --> 00:04:23.699 isn't going to help you at all. Finding healing for big problems usually requires 45 00:04:24.889 --> 00:04:33.410 some invasiveness, facing them directly and honestly finding comfort, as this passage of 46 00:04:33.569 --> 00:04:41.519 scripture begins, comfort comfort my people. Finding that kind of deep and lasting 47 00:04:41.680 --> 00:04:48.000 comfort often requires us to also look at the realities of our lives, at 48 00:04:48.040 --> 00:04:57.389 the ugliness, but also at the glories of God's grace. This morning, 49 00:04:57.430 --> 00:05:01.870 in this hymn that we will sing after I bring you this message from the 50 00:05:01.990 --> 00:05:06.139 Lord Him One hundred and ninety seven comfort, comfort my people. In this 51 00:05:06.379 --> 00:05:11.899 hymn, in this prophecy, I want to help you to do that, 52 00:05:13.259 --> 00:05:18.220 to face the darkness of this world, but to do so with confidence, 53 00:05:18.459 --> 00:05:25.490 knowing of the Lord's Great Light, to face the confidence not with fear and 54 00:05:25.810 --> 00:05:32.889 trembling and uncertainty, but with joy and with glorying in the God of our 55 00:05:32.970 --> 00:05:40.839 salvation. I could distract you, I could instead to give you a Sunday 56 00:05:40.879 --> 00:05:46.360 morning diversion. We could entertain mean, we could have a nice time and 57 00:05:46.480 --> 00:05:54.069 go home. But because I love you, I genuinely love you, I 58 00:05:54.269 --> 00:05:59.389 want to speak true comfort for you. It's what has been given to me 59 00:05:59.829 --> 00:06:03.069 and all those who have been called to speak the word of the Lord, 60 00:06:03.110 --> 00:06:13.139 as Isaiah is told. Comfort, comfort my people, says your God, 61 00:06:14.420 --> 00:06:20.610 bring them true and lasting comforts being speak tenderly to Jerusalem and cry to her 62 00:06:21.689 --> 00:06:30.769 that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she is 63 00:06:30.850 --> 00:06:35.839 received from the Lord's hand double for all her sins. That either meaning that 64 00:06:35.959 --> 00:06:43.439 the Lord has fully completed all suffering necessary or that he has given us more 65 00:06:43.519 --> 00:06:47.310 than we have asked. Either way you interpret it, it's good news for 66 00:06:47.430 --> 00:06:55.189 you. It means that judgment is complete and blessing and glory is at hand. 67 00:06:57.269 --> 00:07:01.699 This is what God tells the messengers of the kingdom to do, whether 68 00:07:01.740 --> 00:07:11.379 they are Isaiah or John or me, all speaking those words of our Savior, 69 00:07:12.379 --> 00:07:17.209 who brings the Kingdom of God into this world, a kingdom of comfort. 70 00:07:19.730 --> 00:07:23.730 These are the first words of the Hymn Comfort, comfort, E. 71 00:07:23.889 --> 00:07:29.050 my people speak ye peace. Thus saith our God. Comfort those that sit 72 00:07:29.290 --> 00:07:34.959 in darkness, mourning neath their sorrows load. Speak Ye to Jerusalem of that 73 00:07:35.279 --> 00:07:41.560 peace that waits for them. Tell her, tell her that her sins I 74 00:07:41.800 --> 00:07:50.829 cover and that her warfare now is over. It doesn't matter who you are, 75 00:07:51.310 --> 00:07:56.670 what your experiences are in this world. The same is true for every 76 00:07:56.750 --> 00:08:01.660 single one of us here. We are all born carrying this load of sorrow. 77 00:08:03.899 --> 00:08:07.819 We're all born into a world that has been poisoned by sin, that 78 00:08:07.019 --> 00:08:13.209 sits under a curse of judgment, and we know this from our own experiences 79 00:08:13.250 --> 00:08:18.810 as well. As from the word of God. Babies die, marriages fall 80 00:08:18.850 --> 00:08:26.769 apart, children rebel, hard earned money is stolen, big dreams die for 81 00:08:26.850 --> 00:08:33.799 lack of support. Great and wonderful projects are mismanaged to death. There's pride 82 00:08:33.919 --> 00:08:39.960 and lust and greed, theft, idolatry, not just outward attacking us, 83 00:08:41.509 --> 00:08:46.509 but spilling out of our hearts. Even is Jesus told us these things that 84 00:08:46.789 --> 00:08:56.860 defile us. We recognize this, we recognize this sorrow, sorrows load that 85 00:08:56.019 --> 00:09:03.299 we are under, and we of course try to reverse them sometimes, sometimes 86 00:09:03.419 --> 00:09:07.940 we try to play Nice, sometimes we try to live by the rules, 87 00:09:09.299 --> 00:09:13.769 but we continually find ourselves in a constant state of warfare with each other, 88 00:09:16.049 --> 00:09:20.850 with ourselves and, of course, most of all, with God. Is 89 00:09:20.850 --> 00:09:26.399 David said in Psalm, fifty one against you, and you only have I 90 00:09:26.600 --> 00:09:33.679 sinned. Let me just say what we all know. Obedience does not come 91 00:09:33.759 --> 00:09:43.029 naturally, somebody said in a podcast I was listening to this week. Dogs 92 00:09:43.070 --> 00:09:50.070 are great with law based preaching. You teach a dog a thing, don't 93 00:09:50.110 --> 00:09:54.580 go near the fence, you discipline the dog, you show the dog that 94 00:09:54.940 --> 00:09:58.220 you go this far and you get hurt and the dog doesn't go that far 95 00:09:58.340 --> 00:10:03.620 anymore. Might take a little bit of training, but usually it works and 96 00:10:03.700 --> 00:10:09.169 it lasts for life. We humans aren't like this, are we? We 97 00:10:09.690 --> 00:10:16.129 seem to be naturally inclined to go past the fence and under the fence and 98 00:10:16.250 --> 00:10:20.570 around the fence and clip the fence and create a new fence and move the 99 00:10:20.610 --> 00:10:26.159 boundaries and whatever we can do, and we might get shocked or beaten or 100 00:10:26.240 --> 00:10:31.279 yelled at or any number of things, and we keep doing it again and 101 00:10:31.399 --> 00:10:39.470 again and again again. Not only does obedience not come naturally, but it 102 00:10:39.750 --> 00:10:43.710 seems like training doesn't either. No matter how strict the law is, no 103 00:10:43.870 --> 00:10:52.059 matter how powerful the consequences are, we find ourselves still stuck in sin, 104 00:10:52.379 --> 00:11:00.820 underneath a sorrow's load. Even the best of us, the most obedient of 105 00:11:00.899 --> 00:11:05.370 us, often live our lives for the wrong reasons. We obey for the 106 00:11:05.490 --> 00:11:13.409 wrong motivations. We do the right thing, but for the wrong motivations. 107 00:11:15.769 --> 00:11:20.600 Today is the day before Christmas and there are many great joys all around us, 108 00:11:22.080 --> 00:11:26.840 things big and small, to be grateful for, but I want to 109 00:11:26.919 --> 00:11:31.919 remind you today is, as the word of God does, of the darkness 110 00:11:31.200 --> 00:11:37.070 that is here as well. I don't want to remind you of the darkness, 111 00:11:37.309 --> 00:11:43.389 to ruin your joy, but to increase it, not to take it 112 00:11:43.509 --> 00:11:50.340 away, but to give you more. Because the darkness that we find ourselves 113 00:11:50.460 --> 00:11:54.059 in, the sorrow that weighs us down, it's true that we can't remove 114 00:11:54.139 --> 00:12:00.340 it on our own, but the message of God's Word is that comes through 115 00:12:00.460 --> 00:12:05.009 his prophets, his messengers, is to cope, to declare to you that 116 00:12:05.169 --> 00:12:09.730 you don't have to remove it, that you can't remove it, but that 117 00:12:09.889 --> 00:12:18.960 he can and that he has comfort. Comfort. My people cry to her. 118 00:12:18.039 --> 00:12:26.840 Her warfare is ended, her iniquity is pardoned. So let us prepare 119 00:12:26.840 --> 00:12:33.549 a way for the Lord. Verse Two of the him, coming from this 120 00:12:33.710 --> 00:12:39.669 passage, says Yeay, her sins are God will pardon, blotting out each 121 00:12:39.789 --> 00:12:48.340 darknessdeed, all that well deserved anger. He no more will see or heed. 122 00:12:50.019 --> 00:12:54.179 She that is Jerusalem, the people of God. She hath suffered many 123 00:12:54.220 --> 00:13:01.970 a day. Now her griefs have passed away, God will change her pining 124 00:13:03.250 --> 00:13:13.159 sadness into ever springing gladness. You see the promise there. The promise is 125 00:13:13.200 --> 00:13:18.080 that God is doing as God is doing and has done something great. As 126 00:13:18.120 --> 00:13:22.519 verse five of Isaiah Forty says, the glory of the Lord shall be revealed 127 00:13:24.120 --> 00:13:28.110 and all flesh shall see it together. For the mouth of the Lord has 128 00:13:28.190 --> 00:13:35.990 spoken. This strength of God's word, whether it comes in the declaration of 129 00:13:37.110 --> 00:13:41.419 his kingdom in general, in the words of pardon for your sins, I 130 00:13:41.659 --> 00:13:48.259 forgive you. He says. These words, these promises, these announcements, 131 00:13:48.779 --> 00:13:56.250 are our life. The comparison in comes in Isaiah of forty, verses six 132 00:13:56.330 --> 00:14:01.809 through eight. The voice says cry, the Prophet says, what Shall I 133 00:14:01.009 --> 00:14:07.409 cry? Here is what you say. All flesh that is us is grass, 134 00:14:09.649 --> 00:14:13.759 and it's beauty is like the flower of the field. The grass withers, 135 00:14:13.840 --> 00:14:20.320 the flower fades, but the word the War Lord, of the Lord, 136 00:14:20.480 --> 00:14:24.750 the Declaration of the Lord, the pardon of the Lord, that stands 137 00:14:24.909 --> 00:14:33.429 forever. Cry, Christ, Be Comfort to my people. Speak tenderly to 138 00:14:33.509 --> 00:14:41.700 Jerusalem, tell her this good news. What happens when God speaks to his 139 00:14:41.940 --> 00:14:52.929 people? His people are changed. There's power in the word. Notice what 140 00:14:52.049 --> 00:14:58.490 happens here in Isaiah forty, verse one. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, right, 141 00:14:58.929 --> 00:15:03.250 tell her, tell the people of God this good news. But then 142 00:15:03.409 --> 00:15:09.840 what happens in verse nine? Notice who's speaking now. I'll read it. 143 00:15:11.320 --> 00:15:13.720 Go Up to a high mountain. Oz Ion, harald of good news, 144 00:15:15.080 --> 00:15:18.759 lift up your voice with strength. Oh Jerusalem, Harold of good news, 145 00:15:20.279 --> 00:15:24.350 lifted up, fear not, say to the cities of Judah, behold your 146 00:15:24.509 --> 00:15:33.389 God, Jerusalem begins as the one who has spoken to and becomes the one 147 00:15:33.509 --> 00:15:41.419 who is speaking. Do you see that something changes in God's people when he 148 00:15:41.460 --> 00:15:46.179 speaks to us? A change happens in which we are no longer weighed down 149 00:15:46.340 --> 00:15:50.730 by sins, no longer overcome by darkness, but become a people that can 150 00:15:50.809 --> 00:15:56.730 speak the very word that we have heard and we speak to the world that 151 00:15:56.049 --> 00:16:03.450 same word. Behold your God. All your fears, all the darkness, 152 00:16:03.529 --> 00:16:11.440 is changed when he comes, because of verse ten behold them. With might 153 00:16:14.080 --> 00:16:18.269 in his arm rules for him. His reward is with him, his recompense 154 00:16:18.429 --> 00:16:25.309 before him. He comes with this great and mighty power. That's how he 155 00:16:25.470 --> 00:16:34.379 can change overwhelming darkness into ever springing gladness, how he can chains the depth 156 00:16:34.500 --> 00:16:44.539 of our sins into a wound that is healed, sin that defiles us and 157 00:16:44.700 --> 00:16:52.169 makes us as black as coal, into people that are forgiven and as white 158 00:16:52.210 --> 00:17:00.809 as snow. Because he comes in strength and in might, but as he 159 00:17:00.009 --> 00:17:07.400 comes in all that strength and might, he also comes with great tendernesses, 160 00:17:07.759 --> 00:17:12.319 to tenderness. Isaiah forty begins speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and here, in 161 00:17:12.359 --> 00:17:17.950 verse eleven, we read that he will tend his flock like a shepherd. 162 00:17:19.029 --> 00:17:26.349 This precious image. He will gather the lambs in his arms, he will 163 00:17:26.390 --> 00:17:34.259 carry them in his bosom. He holds them close to him. They we 164 00:17:36.740 --> 00:17:45.930 can feel the warmth of God as he carries us through this world. You 165 00:17:45.089 --> 00:17:55.569 gently leads not just the little ones but those that are with young to nice 166 00:17:55.650 --> 00:18:03.839 first, to remember mom's the Lord is good to us. He comes with 167 00:18:03.240 --> 00:18:11.079 power, power that is destructive, power that clears the way, a power 168 00:18:11.279 --> 00:18:17.630 that raises the mountains down and lifts up the valley and makes everything ready and 169 00:18:17.869 --> 00:18:26.069 new and straight. But he also comes with mercy and grace and love and 170 00:18:26.349 --> 00:18:37.140 tenderness and comfort for you. Do you feel the weight of sin in Your 171 00:18:37.420 --> 00:18:45.490 Life? Do you feel sorrows load? Then hear the words of God, 172 00:18:47.210 --> 00:18:56.279 comfort, tenderness, power of salvation that is capable of overcoming the things that 173 00:18:56.440 --> 00:19:06.599 we are unable to solve. Verse Three, for the Harald's voices crying in 174 00:19:06.759 --> 00:19:11.750 the desert far and near, bidding all men to repentance, since the kingdom 175 00:19:11.910 --> 00:19:19.069 now is here. All that warning, cry obey. Now, prepare for 176 00:19:19.269 --> 00:19:26.140 God away, let the valleys rise to meet him and the hills bow down 177 00:19:26.299 --> 00:19:30.299 to greet him. Make Ye Straight, what long was crooked. Make the 178 00:19:30.380 --> 00:19:37.220 rougher places plain. Let your hearts be true and humble, as befits his 179 00:19:37.420 --> 00:19:41.609 holy reign, for the glory of the Lord now, or Earth over Earth, 180 00:19:41.970 --> 00:19:48.329 is shed abroad, and all flesh shall see the token, the promise 181 00:19:49.329 --> 00:19:57.000 that his word is never broken. These are the words that are ascribed to 182 00:19:57.079 --> 00:20:03.000 John the Baptist when he declares that the lamb of God has come into the 183 00:20:03.119 --> 00:20:07.910 world, that light shines in the darkness and the darkness is not overcome. 184 00:20:07.990 --> 00:20:12.549 It that one, he says, comes to me, who I am unworthy 185 00:20:12.829 --> 00:20:21.390 to untie the straps of his sandals. This word that has been spoken becomes 186 00:20:21.579 --> 00:20:29.779 the word incarnate, the word the God speaks through the sun, comes into 187 00:20:29.819 --> 00:20:36.609 the world in a fleshly way, not in sin but in humanity. He 188 00:20:37.529 --> 00:20:45.809 becomes man. God becomes man so that his promise would be fulfilled, so 189 00:20:45.930 --> 00:20:52.440 that his powerful whirl word would not be broken. And how does he do 190 00:20:52.599 --> 00:20:56.920 that? He does it by coming into the world in all tenderness and all 191 00:20:56.920 --> 00:21:04.309 humility and all meekness. He comes is a human child, born in humble 192 00:21:04.430 --> 00:21:11.109 circumstances, under the threat of death from the very beginning and ultimately dying at 193 00:21:11.150 --> 00:21:19.380 the hands of humanity, but also at the hands of God, so that 194 00:21:19.420 --> 00:21:26.900 all of our all of our unrighteousness, all of our sin, all of 195 00:21:26.940 --> 00:21:33.210 our darkness, all of our misdeeds, would be placed on him, so 196 00:21:33.329 --> 00:21:37.890 that he could serve as a sacrifice for our sins, so that Jesus could 197 00:21:37.890 --> 00:21:45.049 be that great mediator between us and God, so that our sins could be 198 00:21:45.369 --> 00:21:52.160 forgiven by the power of Jesus, who went to the cross, who went 199 00:21:52.240 --> 00:22:00.430 to the grave and rose again from the dead. The word of God was 200 00:22:00.549 --> 00:22:11.670 fulfilled, the heralding of that good news was fulfilled. The power of the 201 00:22:11.710 --> 00:22:18.460 Kingdom of God was not just at hand, it came into the world and 202 00:22:18.700 --> 00:22:22.779 is Jesus ascended to the right hand of God, the Father Almighty, from 203 00:22:22.859 --> 00:22:29.819 where he now rules and reigns over us. We stand as those who have 204 00:22:30.170 --> 00:22:36.289 been forgiven. We stand as those who now have been changed and can call 205 00:22:36.490 --> 00:22:42.730 to others to repent and to believe this Gospel. The glory of the Lord 206 00:22:42.890 --> 00:22:48.759 is over all the earth. The message of the Gospel has been shed over 207 00:22:48.400 --> 00:22:59.390 all the world and continues to go forth. Will you believe? And, 208 00:22:59.670 --> 00:23:03.910 if you believe, will you continue to walk in that faith? When you 209 00:23:04.069 --> 00:23:11.230 find yourselves facing the sorrows of this world, the sins and your own souls, 210 00:23:12.700 --> 00:23:18.059 what will you do? Will you go looking for glitter and lights and 211 00:23:18.299 --> 00:23:29.970 bows, or will you find eternal comfort, ever springing gladness in the good 212 00:23:30.170 --> 00:23:37.329 news of Jesus? Christ? Beloved Jesus came into this world to save us 213 00:23:38.089 --> 00:23:45.279 from this world, to save our save us from our sins and to usher 214 00:23:45.359 --> 00:23:52.000 us into a new creation, one that is eternal and unshakable, a kingdom 215 00:23:52.079 --> 00:24:00.990 that will last forever. Celebrate that, find comfort in that, here the 216 00:24:00.190 --> 00:24:08.670 tender words of your God, not just today and tomorrow, but every day 217 00:24:11.859 --> 00:24:19.140 and even for all eternity. Amen. Let's pray