Turn with me now to Isaiah 61. Isaiah 61, and we'll simply read the first three verses of Isaiah 61. Listen to what the prophet writes. The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me. Because the Lord has anointed me to preach good tidings to the poor. He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound. to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, to console those who mourn in Zion, to give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness, that they may be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified. Remember, the grass withers and the flower falls, but God's Word abides forever. As we start out, I'm going to give you a list of words, and I want you to try to figure out what do they all have in common. A treadmill? A $10,000 fishbowl? Cabbage? A dinner plate, 20 harmonicas, and a live goat. Any guesses? A treadmill, $10,000 fishbowl, cabbage, 20 harmonicas, and a live goat. These were all prizes that you could win on game shows. Any of you guess that? If you did, I got a prize. No, I don't. Now, some of these prizes were quite good. Others, not so much. For example, the prize for winning cabbage, that was the consolation prize. If you were actually the main winner, then you would get other types of food, not cabbage. The dinner plate, you were in a cooking competition and you were paired with another contestant, a celebrity chef, and if you had the dish that was liked, then you won a couple hundred bucks. But if not, then the consolation was an official dinner plate. You could go on an Irish game show and you could win money, similar to the family feud, but if not, if you were the loser, you simply got to frame black and white portrait of your family. Not even in color, black and white. What's the point? The point of this is that They would give you things in order to try to comfort you, make you feel better because you didn't get top prize or top billing. You were lesser and yet you still walked away with something. You weren't empty handed. Maybe some of you remember from Jeopardy in the 80s where one of the gifts was a box of Rice-A-Roni. The point being is that they were seeking to take steps so that you would feel better and not ultimately disappointed or sad. And yet, as we go through our series at this time of year on true fulfillment, one of the things that we see brought for us is that as the children of God that we saw last week from John 1, that through the Lord Jesus Christ, we then have true, real, lasting consolation. That it's not this sense of comfort from a second-rate prize that's going to fall apart or break on us. That we don't end up being seen as second or third loser and therefore we walk away with something that's insignificant. That ultimately, through the Lord Jesus Christ, we have real and true fulfillment. And this lasting, hopeful, eternal fulfillment that is given to us addresses all aspects of our needs and brings real, lasting comfort. And so this morning, I want us to see that through the prophet Isaiah and Isaiah 61, speaking about the Lord Jesus Christ, that the Isaiah is bringing us the gospel of consolation, the good news of comfort. And by hearing this, we'll see that God has given us a qualified consoler who through his comfort, graciously helps us in our time of need. We want to do this in three ways. The first is we just want to see that God has given us a qualified consoler. The Lord Jesus is qualified to be the real and true consoler. And then secondly, we want to see, well, what does he do? The consolation that he gives us is quite thorough. And then lastly, we wanna see the effects of it, that it is a gracious consolation. How do we highlight that he's simply a qualified consoler? Well, notice what Isaiah writes, the spirit of the Lord God is upon me because the Lord has anointed me. There's his qualifications. The Spirit of God is on him and the Lord has anointed him. There's a few things that we should see as we consider this. Firstly, it's that no one can claim the right or authority to teach unless they're prompted by the Spirit of God. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 12 that one who speaks by the Spirit of God will not call Jesus a curse, but instead he will say that Jesus Christ is Lord. And he goes on to say that he can only do this by the power of the Holy Spirit. And that even though there are a diversity of gifts, it still is the same Spirit that is at work. and the one who teaches. Secondly, we see that those who spoke on behalf of God did so based on the presence and blessing of the Spirit. Listen to what Peter writes in 1 Peter 1. He says, of this salvation, the prophets have inquired and searched carefully, searching what manner of time, listen, the Spirit of Christ who was in them was indicating when he testified beforehand of his sufferings and the glories to follow. Those who were the messengers of God, who brought God's revelation to God's people, did so by the power of the Spirit. And in order for Jesus then to be our true consoler, our comforter, our qualified one, He then has to do so not by His own power, but rather by the power of Him who sent Him, by the power of the Holy Spirit. And Jesus makes this quite clear for us that this is the case. If you look throughout the Gospels, in Luke 1 and 3 and 4, in Matthew 1, 3 and 4, you see this point, that Jesus was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit in the womb of Mary. That when Jesus was baptized, the Spirit descended on Him and the voice commended Him regarding His task. That as He then leaves His baptism, He's filled with the Holy Spirit to be tempted and to endure that temptation. And lastly, He returns in the power of the Holy Spirit to engage in His ministry. And Jesus highlights in the passage that we read in Matthew 12, that as He heals people, it fulfills Scripture to highlight that Jesus is the servant of God, His beloved in whom God is well pleased and in whom God has set His Spirit on Him. So what does this show us? Jesus is qualified. to be our consoler. That the scriptures affirm this very point to us so that we might then see that Jesus is the one who gives true comfort. Notice how we also see that this is a Trinitarian operation. You recall at Jesus' baptism that it was the Father and the Son and the Spirit present. That the Father spoke His commendation, that the Spirit descended, that Jesus was there in the water in order to take up this work. as consolation comes to you. It's not provided in some stingy manner. It's not given to you with an aspect of reluctance. That God, in coming alongside of you to give you comfort, doesn't do so going, you know, if there was anyone else to do this instead, I choose them. That Jesus doesn't view you in that way either. Jesus willingly came to earth. Jesus voluntarily took to Himself the form of a servant. The author of Hebrews says that who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross despising its shame. Jesus in coming alongside of you is not half-hearted or reluctant or somehow having to have His arm twisted by the Father or by the Spirit in order to take up this role. He's qualified and He desires and delights to serve in this manner. Well, if He is the consoler, what comfort then does He bring? There's all sorts of statements made to us in this section. He preaches good tidings. He heals. He proclaims. He opens prisons. He comforts. He consoles. Think about the entirety and the thoroughness and the wonder and the delight of highlighting those things to us. Firstly, that He just simply speaks to us. That He speaks in an authoritative manner. He makes an official proclamation regarding the good news of the comfort that he brings. This message that he puts before us is not simply some sense in which he's just on his blog sharing certain ideas and then disseminating this into the world so that all would just simply hear his opinion. This isn't just his interaction on social media where he makes his post on X, or he hops on Facebook, or he does something else, and everyone goes, yep, scroll, swipe away, whatever. This is an authoritative declaration by the Lord Jesus Christ where He in turn preaches good tidings. Some of you need to hear this, that the message that Jesus brings is a message of good news. Some of you need to hear this because you have a different concept as to what Jesus brings, what he declares. You've heard ideas about Jesus or about scripture. You've been in context where you've simply been filled with all sorts of anxiety and mistrust about who God is and what he does through Jesus. You see Jesus in a stern manner. You see the Lord Jesus in a manner simply of judgment and harshness and disdain. But here He is joyfully bringing a message. And it's good. I'm reminded of the language that was used in Luke chapter 2. that as the angels went to the shepherds, they said that they brought good tidings of great joy, which shall be for all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord." Notice the message here. It's not focusing at this point on sin or holiness or judgments. It's instead highlighting the fact that God graciously and lovingly sent one on your behalf to be born as Savior. To connect with those who are poor, who are meek, who are broken. Jesus comes alongside of those who are hurting and disadvantaged and even the disenfranchised. And how does he deal with them? He comes to the poor and the brokenhearted and the captives. Notice the statements made about these individuals. Too often we put our 21st century American mindset in hearing the poor or the captive. And yet we haven't quite gotten what the point is here. The poor here aren't simply those who are able to secure welfare and still have a decent place to live and get a steady diet of government cheese. Maybe they're living in a van down by the river, right? but they're able to make it. The poor here are the beggars who are off in the corner, who are destitute, and they're so embarrassed and they're so ashamed that they want to hide themselves because they don't want anyone to know the situation that they're in, that they're bankrupt, that they have nothing, and that they're begging simply for crumbs. Remember Lazarus and the rich man. I think it was in Luke 16, that Lazarus would simply come and just beg for the crumbs to fall from the one's table so that he might have something to put in his belly. The captives are imprisoned. They're under a sentence. They're awaiting punishment, possibly even execution as a captive. They're at the will and the mindset of the one who oversees them. That one could be cruel. They're stuck within an encampment and they can't get out. They're being watched over by armed guards who at any moment could take their life. Sometimes they're treated kindly, other times not so much. And they're stuck, and they're not free, and they have no rights, and they have no privileges. They simply must live at the whims and the will of the one who oversees them. This picture here. It's a picture of bankruptcy. It's a picture of waste. It's a picture of sorrow. It's setting something before us that shows that these are individuals who are at a loss. They are stuck. They're hurting. If you compared it to Psalm 107, you would view them as being in a desert, a wasteland, no food, no water. They're blind. It's dark. They're under the shadow of death and they cannot resolve their situation. They feel forsaken. They feel abandoned. They're under tremendous distress. Is this describing any of you? Our natural condition before God is that we are poor and we are doomed to die. And the prisoner that we are under, our master that oversees us, he hates us, he's enslaved us, he's put us under the sentence of death, he wants to destroy us, and he wants us to perish forever in all of eternity. I'm speaking of the serpent from the beginning, the devil himself. He seeks to kill and to destroy. He hates you. You bear the image of God. He's reminded of God every time he sees you and therefore he simply wants you undone. He wants God undone. He does not want God to be praised or glorified or honored. And so he sees how he might be able to overtake you and keep you in a position where you have no ability for advancement, you cannot commend yourself to God, you're destitute, and you're stuck. And yet, what does the Lord say? I've come to declare good tidings. I've come to give liberty to the captives. I've come to open the prison of those who are bound. no matter your circumstance, no matter how bad and how awful it truly is for you right now, through the Lord Jesus Christ, true fulfillment may be had based on the work that He has done and the message that He brings that is true, that is honest, that is sincere, and that desires for you to benefit. The gospel isn't for the good. The proclamation of good tidings isn't for those who have their stuff together. If you see yourself as simply being rich and free and successful and healthy and fit and no infirmities, and as a result of all that's happening for you physically, it's also then that way for you spiritually, and yet you are without God, the Gospel isn't for you. It's only for those who see themselves as poor. But those who recognize themselves to be afflicted and destitute of everything good, this good news truly does comfort and console. Notice how Jesus carries this further. We said it's a thorough consolation, not only in the message that he brings, but even the action that he does. He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted. Brokenheartedness is rough. It hurts. It's not easy to feel your inside just destroyed. Those of you who can think back to your first love, And if you're not with them now, what was that like? Was that easy? Was that comfortable? Did that feel good at the moment? You just wanted to run to your room and hang out there and cry. Yeah, you guys did too. And then you begin to wonder, well, is it me? What's wrong with me? What did I do? What's my problem? Why couldn't they like me? Why wasn't it enough for, why wasn't I enough for them? What could I have done differently? And you just start reflecting, and you wonder, and you question, and then you doubt. And you just hurt. It's hard to be heartbroken. Spiritually, it's even worse. When we deal with broken hearts, we're talking about hearts that are shattered, that they are damaged, that they're wounded, and that they're fractured. But we're talking about hearts that are beginning to understand and comprehend and feel simply the weight of guilt for sin. The hearts that are feeling bankrupt spiritually. The hearts that are seeing that there are certain habits that are present in life, and as much as you don't want it to be there, and as much as you try to break free from it, you're just still taken back, and you're overwhelmed by it. Some of you deal with this aspect of brokenness with emotional concerns, mental health struggles. Weaknesses that exist all around that just simply weigh us down and burden us. And we just can't get out from underneath it. And yet what does Jesus say? He binds up the brokenhearted. He basically comes alongside and He knits. He joins it together. He covers over the wound. He places ointment over it so that it then can eventually be restored. He shows care. He shows concern. The comfort that Jesus brings is that He soothes, He heals, and He restores anyone who looks to Him by faith. And He causes them then to be made whole once again. because He firstly sets for them the right position of their souls to be set before a holy God so that they may once again be received and taken out of death and be brought into life, that they may understand and know and comprehend just the wonders of the love of God for them as He would address their sins and their misery. But His continued healing then doesn't stop because even though He's not with us, through the work of the Spirit, He sanctifies us, and He grows us, and He matures us, and He walks with us, and He allows us to have various experiences that expose the continued weakness of our flesh and the struggles that we have, and yet Jesus is still there helping and overcoming. And even if that situation would not go away, Jesus whispers to us, my grace is sufficient. So that we might then boast in weaknesses to know that by his power we're strong. And even though we may have the sorrows of the bodies that are falling apart and decaying, and even though we may have those interpersonal struggles where we can't overcome a besetting sin, or we find weaknesses in how we think or how we reflect, or certain hurts emotionally that just will not go away. Jesus has promised and assured that because of His victory over death and hell and the grave, that He'll wipe away every tear, that there will be no more death and no sorrow and no crying and no more pain, for He will cause the former to pass away. And so what do we do with this? We celebrate the fact that He heals, that He cleanses us so that He renews a steadfast spirit in us, that He continues to work in our lives to assure us that even when we sin and as we confess it, He forgives our iniquities and He cleanses us from all evil and that He's always present. And when we're hurting and suffering, He knows our weakness. He's mindful of our frame. That a bruised reed He will not break, and a smoking wick He will not quench. And yet in the power of the outworking of His consolation, He also then shows Himself to be a mighty deliverer. Notice again what our text says. that He proclaims liberty to the captives, He opens the prison to those who are bound to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord and the day of vengeance of our God. He gives true and real freedom. Even though we at one time may have been under the dominance of sin or under the power of the evil one in bondage to death and destruction, Jesus truly does deliver. Because Christ has conquered over the power of the evil one in his works. And he has destroyed him in all the power of death so that he provides the sufficiency of grace to shake off the yoke of sin. so that those who are in Him are truly free. Christ is for us. Well, if this is the thorough consolation that the Lord Jesus brings as the one who can effectively do this, what are the benefits that we have? We've touched on them, but to be a little more specific based on what the text notes, notice the way in which consolation is brought forth towards the end of verse two and end of verse three. That he proclaims the acceptable year of the Lord, he comforts the mourning, he consoles those who mourn, he gives beauty for ashes, the oil of joy, and the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness. This really is an amazing grace that He provides. This reference to the acceptable year of the Lord is highlighting the idea of Jubilee. If you haven't read that, I would encourage you to go to Leviticus 25 and read all that God provides there. The short of it is this, that every seven years the children of Israel were supposed to allow the land to rest from being farmed and worked. And as they did that every seven years, then after they did that on the 49th year, there was a huge celebration on the 50th year. And the big celebration that they had was three things. One, if you had any debts, they were canceled. Two, if you ended up becoming a slave, you were let go, you were released. And number three, if you had lost your land, if you had lost the portion of ground that belonged to your family name and heritage, it was given back. Release, restoration, cancellation. It's really the publicity of a true grace that God was picturing for us in the Lord Jesus Christ. And notice how it then is described. It is a comfort for mourning so that ashes are exchanged for beauty, so that the true presence of joy is there and the aspect of praise might be brought forth. on those who are hurting. You see, Jesus Christ has truly overcome. Those of you who are sorrowing this day, you're mourning, you're weeping, you're struggling, You may be struggling because you don't know the assurance of the salvation that you have through the Lord Jesus Christ. You may be struggling because you see certain challenges within that are just causing you to ask, does God truly love me or care for me? You may be hurting because of the behaviors of others on you and you've cried out to God and you've wanted to see this resolved. Remember what the psalmist writes regarding the Lord. He says, you number my wanderings, you put my tears into your bottle. Are they not in your view? Or are they not in your book? Think about that. God knows every tear that you have shed and he's gathered it together to collect it. He sees these things and He has recorded this. And yet He doesn't simply want to take your mourning and leave you by yourself to have to work through it. He provides you with Jesus Christ to be the one who can give you true comfort. Jesus provides it, Jesus proclaims it, and He applies it. It's real, it's sincere, it's lasting, it's sufficient, it's all encouraging. Those of you who are attempting to do some things on your own, to manage your own tears, to manage your own life and situation, how's that working for you so far? How's it really going? to simply be brought back to your situation again, and here you're mulling it over, and you're thinking it through it, and all of these feelings, and all of this angst, and all of these ideas are being brought forth before you, and you're reliving it, and you're refocused on it, and it's just all right there. But not so with the Lord Jesus, especially as it relates to your soul and your standing before God. because in Christ there is real comfort. He shares this in three ways. Beauty for ashes, joy, and praise. Ashes were worn when it was a time to be sad, a time that you were sorrowing, A time in which you were reflecting and you were mourning the loss of life, struggle regarding sin. Through Christ, God forgives us and He cleanses us and He takes away the hurt and the pain of sin. in order to assure us that in His sight we're made beautiful. He brings true joy. As individuals would mourn, then we see that their faces appear disfigured. They look unlovely. Think about that time in which someone just had this really significant cry, and their eyes are all puffy, and their faces are all red, and they've been wiping and damping their tears. And with all that, you just look at them and go, it's been rough, hasn't it? But not through the extension of God's joy. This comes and refreshes, and it makes us whole, and it causes us to know that the joy of the Lord is our strength, and we see that with God through Christ, we have peace and true consolation. And then lastly, He beautifies us, beautiful garments of purity. not in the spirit of heaviness, not in the spirit of strife or of struggle, but instead the outworkings of a true righteousness that shows we're clothed in the Lord Jesus. Through this then, notice the description of God's people. They're called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord that He then may be glorified. You think of the description of this tree, it would have been like an oak. It has a deep root system, it's dense, it's durable, it's used for nice, strong furniture if it's ever cut down. It's able to stand up against the fiercest of storms and remain firm and true. God does this for you if you are in the Lord Jesus. He's planted you and settled you so that you're restored before Him. He allows you then to reflect His power in you so that as you're rooted and strengthened in the Lord Jesus, so you then increase to the glory of His name. And with this then, it directs us to the true consolation that we have in Christ. To belong as God's people, to flourish in His courts, and to know that His name would be glorified among us. True fulfillment is found in the consolation that Jesus Christ grants us. It's not like the consolation that we heard about at the beginning of these gifts that are provided to simply just appease the individual for the moment. One of the gifts I had highlighted was a treadmill. Think about the consolation prize that the individual who received the treadmill in 2015 on The Price is Right. The individual who ended up winning this prize was a woman without the use of her legs and confined to a wheelchair. The host at the time made it even worse by ribbing the individual and saying, it sure did take you a long time to get up here. Can you imagine what it was like for that person? planning the opportunity to go on this show, to be involved, the hopes of winning something, the hopes of maybe getting a new car, spinning the wheel, gaining thousands and thousands of dollars, able to take a trip and go with a family member or a friend, but all she could get was a treadmill that she couldn't even use. That's not the consolation that God gives us through Christ. It's true, it's lasting, it's fulfilling. It's peace with God that overcomes our sins as Jesus has proclaimed to us and assures us is ours forevermore in him. Let's pray. Our Father in heaven, help us to know of this comfort that you give and see how without it we cannot be fulfilled, but through it, how we have life and freedom in Christ. cause us to rejoice and celebrate this gift, even as we pray saying, our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.