Keep sharing good news without ads.
Source: https://www.sermonindex.net/speakers/william-skates/comfort-my-people/
Let's turn to the book of Isaiah, please, and chapter 40. Isaiah and chapter 40, the turning point in the book of Isaiah. We'll read at verse 1. Comfort ye, comfort ye, my people, saith your God. There's a repetition again.
We've been noting repetitions already this afternoon. The word comfort, comfort ye, you'll notice, can be translated as cause to breathe again. Cause to breathe again, my people, saith your God. Speak ye 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.
The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, you'll know that's a reference to John the Baptist, prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Jump forward at least 2 ,000 years, every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.
Now come over to chapter 43. Chapter 43, and again we'll read verse 1. But now, thus saith the Lord that created thee, O Jacob, and that formed thee, O Israel, fear not, for I have redeemed thee. I have called thee by thy name, thou art mine.
When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee, and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee. When thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned, neither shall the flame kindle upon thee, for I am the Lord thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Savior.
Now that will suffice, we trust the Lord will bless the reading of his word with what we've already been listening to this afternoon. We've come to the turning point in the book of Isaiah in chapter 40.
It is the first 39 chapters are dealing with prophetic condemnation. You could write over those 39 chapters, prophetic condemnation. Israel's failure before God. Outlined in chapter 1, you remember I've nourished and brought up children and they have rebelled against me.
Israel is seen as a leper, and the whole head is sick, the whole heart is faint, from the sole of the foot to the crown of the head, there's no soundness in it. And other nations are brought in as well and condemned prophetically through the word of God in those chapters.
Ultimately, it's the tribulation in view. And in those chapters, there are those portions that will bring us right up to the end of the tribulation period. For example, in chapter 26, at the end of chapter 26, you have the resurrection of Old Testament saints, Isaiah included in the context of the end of the indignation that's mentioned there in that context.
But from chapter 40 onwards to the end of the book, you might write over this section, prophetic consolation. The consolation of Israel. What I want to notice with you this afternoon is how it speaks to the principles of consolation in our own experience.
And it brings it down to where the rubber meets the road in a very practical way. We want to notice that with you. Anticipated in these chapters will be peace and prosperity for Israel, as we've already been hearing.
This whole section comprising 27 chapters, similar to the number of books in our New Testament, with Isaiah 53 in the middle of that section. And if you take Isaiah 53 with the last three verses of chapter 52 as one complete unit, you know that in the middle of that, you've got verse number five.
And there's the reason why there will be consolation. There's the reason why there will be comfort for not only Israel, but for his people in a more general sense. But he was wounded for our transgressions.
He was bruised for our inequities. The chastisement to bring us into peace was upon him, not only in our own souls, but also the peace of that millennial day that we've been hearing about. To bring us into peace was upon him.
Israel's confession, and with his stripe, we are healed. So you have peace in purpose. That would cover chapters 40 through to chapter 48. You have the Prince of Peace then brought in as the focus, as God's servant who will bring it all about.
And that will take you from 49 through to chapter 55. Chapter 53 is right in there. The Prince of Peace who will bring it all about. And then you have descriptions given in chapters 56 through to the end.
In chapter 66, the program of peace, if you will, where there is descriptions given of that millennial blessing that our brother has been bringing before us from Psalm 72. And so we have this section opening in chapter 40 now with these words, Comfort ye, comfort ye, my people.
After all the punishment that has been brought upon the house of Israel and upon the house of Judah, not only anticipated in those chapters before this, the Assyrian captivity, and in chapters 38 and 39, the Babylonian captivity anticipated.
And now chapter 40 opens with comfort ye, comfort ye, my people. Cause to breathe again. And Israel will be restored according to God's purpose. Just looking at that word closer from the helps that we have, it can also mean, in the Hebrew, by the way, words can have various shades of meaning.
And one of the ways in which it can be translated is repent and console. Not interesting. Because after all, that is the very principle upon which consolation will be brought to Israel. It will be upon the principle of national repentance.
Zechariah speaks of that. When the whole house of David and of Levi and the various sections in the land, there will be national repentance. When they look upon him whom they have pierced, and they recognize that this one who was despised and rejected of men, after all, is the Messiah.
We esteemed him stricken of God and afflicted. But after all, it was the plan of God and redemption in order to bring us into peace with God. So there will be national repentance in Israel, and that will precede the divine consolation when they submit to the mind of God and they embrace God's provision for them, the person of our Lord Jesus Christ as their Messiah.
And so we have these words now, speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem and cry unto her that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned. There is coming a day when Jerusalem will be comforted, when there will be consolation for the nation as a whole based upon their repentance.
God will pardon them for there will be individual repentance, but it will mark them as a nation. And there will be that portion from Israel which is now in unbelief, that will be converted, will be born again in order to enter into the millennial kingdom on earth.
And by the way, just in passing, I take it that those survivors of the tribulation born again who will actually move on into the millennial kingdom, they're born again like we are, but they also have an Adamic nature like we do.
I know that because the offspring that come from them come from fallen stock and they too need to be born again. So that's just a kind of a by the way, tuck that away in your mind. Now, Zechariah speaks about that national repentance when he will pour upon the house of David and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem the spirit of grace and supplications.
And amazingly they shall look upon him whom they have pierced. Back there 2 ,000 years previously, they pierced him. They were the instigators for the Romans to take him and to crucify him. And they shall mourn in that day.
There will be that national mourning in the nation and they will be in bitterness for him as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn. But chapter 42 brings us to God's statement concerning the Messiah.
He says, Behold my servant whom I uphold, mine elect in whom my soul delighteth. I have put my spirit upon him and he shall bring forth judgment onto the Gentiles. Judgment onto the Gentiles. That's that millennial reign that we've been thinking about.
And God has given that purpose of his into the hand of the Lord Jesus who shall not fail until he does bring it all about. That's chapter 42. Now chapter 43. But now saith the Lord that created thee, O Jacob, and that formed thee, O Israel.
Now notice God's interest in them. He says, fear not, number one. Number two, for I have redeemed thee. Number three, I have called thee by thy name and thou art mine. God's very strong, intense interest in his people.
And you and I can apply those very things to our own souls, can't we? When we think of the fact that God has created us. What a marvelous thing that is. When you think of God's purpose down through the ages and how he had me in mind, you know, when the Son of God loved me and gave himself for me.
I'm amazed at that. To think in the infinite wisdom of God, when he formed man, breathed into him the breath of lives, and man became a living soul, God had written into Adam all the DNA that was required to form me.
When in the moment in history in 1960, I would be born into this world. Marvelous, isn't it? God created us, each one of us, in a very individual way. We owe our very existence as a human being to the God of creation.
I have created thee, I have formed thee. He says, fear not, fear not, for I have redeemed thee. And how amazing that is. Far beyond the wonder of creation. To think of God looking upon us in all our need as rebels and guilty and violent, sinful and depraved and defiled.
And he gives the very best of heaven, for us the worst of earth, whose precious blood was shed upon the cross of Calvary, and by grace will have been saved through faith, and it's through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.
Let us never lose the wonder of our redemption. And how wonderful it was when the gospel came our way, and we heard the call of God, and he says, I have called thee. I have called thee as individuals by thy name.
And he says, thou art mine. You know what God redeems, he claims, as his very own. A great truth for us each one to remember as we move on from the conference this afternoon. I don't belong to me anymore.
You're bought with a price. You're not your own. Therefore, glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's. We've been redeemed. We belong to him. But notice now what follows. Verse 2. God says, when thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee.
And through the rivers they shall not overflow thee. Excuse me. When thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned. Neither shall the flame kindle upon thee, for I am the Lord thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Savior.
We've been thinking of Israel in that coming day. In the tribulation period, there will be a remnant in Israel, a remnant of Israel. And you know, they will go through deep waters. And Peter speaks about the fiery trial that shall come upon the world through the waters, through the fire.
That remnant in the tribulation, I'm sure they will wonder, are we going to make it through? They only have to think about God's dealings with the nation in the past to know the character of their God.
Through the waters, through the rivers. Why, you remember whenever Israel was called out of Egypt, how that they, at Neweba, the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aqaba, opened right up, and they walked right through on dry land, through the waters.
God brought them through on dry land. And through the rivers, well, they came to the Jordan, and normally the Jordan overflowed its banks at that time of year. But through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee.
Do you remember what God did before for our nation, and he brought us right through? And then when they'll walk us through the fire, you remember that remnant testimony for God, that time when before Nebuchadnezzar and that burning fiery furnace?
The three Hebrew children. And Nebuchadnezzar, as he looked on, he said, did we not throw three into the fire? Behold, I see four, and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God. I will be with thee, neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.
And there wasn't even the smell of smoke upon them. And God brought them through. And that remnant in a coming day will reflect upon the faithfulness of God to his people in the past. And there will literally be, at least it's figurative, there in Revelation chapter 12, you remember how that the dragon cast out of his mouth a great flood of water, and it was going to swallow up the woman, but the earth helped the woman and opened her mouth and swallowed the river, and God protected his people in that great tribulation.
He'll protect them in that fiery trial. So is this all, you know, it's interesting to read about it and to be informed as to God's purpose in the future, but is this relevant to us today? That's what I want to come to, and that's the main purpose of my message.
Is it relevant to us? Well, their God is our God. I am the Lord, I change not. And he has created us as we've been reminded, he has redeemed us, he has called us, we belong to him. And he has guaranteed to us his presence, and he has guaranteed to us his power.
The Hebrew writer says that we may boldly say that the Lord is my helper. I shall not fear what men shall do unto me. Israel could reflect on the past. Can we? Can we reflect upon the love of God that has been expressed toward us?
And to know that God is the same and still loves us? What about the water? Going through deep waters? Has he showed his love toward us in this regard before? Listen to it. Psalm 69. Save me, O God, for the waters are come in unto my soul.
I sink in deep mire where there is no standing. I am come into deep waters where the floods overflow me. And God in that figure has portrayed his love to us. In the death of the Lord Jesus Christ, the waters came in unto his soul, proof of his love toward us.
What about the fire? For from above hath he sent fire into my bones, and it prevaileth against them. There is one who has endured the fire of the wrath of God, the fierceness of his wrath against our many sins, upon the cross at Calvary.
And God has put on full display his love toward us at Calvary. God is the same, brothers and sisters. Even in the practical affairs of life, even in those trials in life when we are brought into deep waters, and as it were, the fire would kindle against us.
In those experiences, listen to the word of our God. Fear not. Fear not, for I have redeemed thee. I have called thee by thy name. Thou art mine. And that love that he proved at Calvary is still directed toward us.
God that spared not his own son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? And Paul, as he explores that there at the end of chapter 8 in the book of Romans, and he looks across the universe, and as it were, he ransacks every possible avenue, every possible thing that could possibly come in to, as it were, separate us from the love of God.
Listen to what he says. For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other part of creation will ever separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus.
I tell you, that would bring comfort to your heart, wouldn't it? That would cause us to breathe again, even in the midst of trial, to know that God is on our side. He'll never leave us. He'll never forsake us.
Comfort ye. Comfort ye my people. Seth, you're God. The Lord bless his word.