We turn now to Isaiah chapter 40. Isaiah 40 is often considered one of the most beautiful passages in Holy Scripture. But the heart of this particular chapter, in the essence of its glorious message, is found in the first two verses that we are going to consider presently. The message that every one of us must hear, the message of God's comfort for his people. Comfort ye. Comfort ye 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, prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. 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 has spoken it, The voice said, cry. And he said, what shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field. The grass withereth, the flower fadeth, because the spirit of the Lord bloweth upon it. Surely the people is grass. The grass withereth, the flower fadeth, but the word of our God shall stand forever. O Zion, that bringest good tidings, get thee up into the high mountain. O Jerusalem, that bringest good tidings, lift up thy voice with strength. Lift it up, be not afraid. Say unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God. Behold, the Lord God will come with strong hand, and his arm shall rule for him. Behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him. He shall feed his flock like a shepherd. He shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young. Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted out heaven with the span? and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance? Who hath directed the Spirit of the Lord, or being his counselor, hath taught him, with whom took he counsel? And who instructed him, and taught him the path of judgment, and taught him knowledge, and showed to him the way of understanding? Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance. Behold, he taketh up the aisles as a very little thing. And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, nor the beasts thereof sufficient for a burnt offering. All nations before him are as nothing, and they are counted to him less than nothing and vanity. To whom then will ye liken God? Or what likeness will ye compare unto him? The workman melteth a graven image, and the goldsmith spreadeth it over with gold and casteth silver chains. He that is so impoverished that he hath no oblation chooseth a tree that will not rot. He seeketh unto him a cunning workman to prepare a graven image that shall not be moved. Have ye not known? Have ye not heard? Hath it not been told you from the beginning? Have ye not understood from the foundations of the earth? It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers, that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in. That bringeth the princes to nothing, he maketh the judges of the earth as vanity, Yea, they shall not be planted, yea, they shall not be sown, yea, their stock shall not take root in the earth, and he shall also blow upon them, and they shall wither, and the whirlwind shall take them away as stubble. To whom then will ye liken me, or shall I be equal, saith the Holy One? Lift up your eyes on high, and behold, who hath created these things, that bringeth out their hosts by number? He calleth them all by names, by the greatness of his might. For that he is strong in power, not one faileth. Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and speakest, O Israel, my way is hid from the Lord, and my judgment is passed over from my God? has thou not known, hast thou not heard that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? There is no searching of his understanding. He giveth power to the faint, and to them that have no might he increaseth strength. Even the youth shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall, but they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings as eagles, they shall run and not be weary, and they shall walk and not faint. Again, our text is the first two verses of Isaiah 40. Comfort ye, comfort ye 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. Beloved in the Lord Jesus Christ, as I indicated earlier, in Psalm 40, Isaiah takes us by his inspired prophetic vision some 150 years into the future, to the time of the Babylonian captivity. Not as yet in fact, but in prophetic vision, Judah has gone into captivity, and Jerusalem and the temple are in ruins. It was quite a contrast, therefore, to the current situation in Israel, but we have seen earlier that Isaiah prophesies of the chastisements of the Lord, the waves of chastisement that must come upon Israel. Zion must be redeemed, but she shall be redeemed through judgment. For although having the appearance of outward prosperity, she was rotten through and through. We saw, if you look back to the first chapter of Isaiah, you find already in that first chapter God's judgment of the nation. The Holy One of Israel, whose eyes are in every place, who misses nothing, gave his divine evaluation of that nation that went by his name. It was a dreadful summary. Isaiah 1, verses four and five. A sinful nation. A people laden with iniquity. A seed of evildoers. Children that are corruptors. They have forsaken the Lord. They have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger. They are gone away backward. Why should ye be stricken anymore? Ye will revolt more and more. The whole head is sick and the whole heart faint. And he goes on to say, how is the faithful city becoming harlot? Mind you, that was the state and condition of Israel, the church of the living God. All they could expect was to be turned upside down and destroyed. But there's a very small remnant in Israel. There's a beating heart in that external body called Zion, and as a besieged city, that tiny remnant remained, even within this corrupt nation of Israel. and for their sakes Israel shall be saved. But that salvation must come through judgment, and Isaiah speaks of that judgment coming as it were in waves, wave after wave of judgment. And while presently the instrument of Israel's chastisement were the Assyrians, as we saw this morning, In the last part of chapter 39, the word of Jehovah of hosts to Hezekiah is this, verse six. Behold, the days come that all that is in thine house and that which thy fathers have laid up in store until this day shall be carried to Babylon. Nothing shall be left, saith the Lord. In this 40th chapter of Isaiah's vision, that Babylonian captivity is seen as an accomplished fact. Isaiah beholds that troubled church in captivity, under the chastening hand of God, and to them, God has a message, a beautiful message of comfort. And to that, we now give our attention. God's message of comfort is our theme. The text reveals to us, first of all, a troubled people, secondly, a comforting message, and finally, we see here a sure work of God. God's message of comfort comes to a troubled people. The text calls attention to the fact that This is a people in the midst of war. Realizing that this word of God comes to us as well as to those in Israel to whom Isaiah first spoke, we ask the question, what's the warfare? That description of warfare is a description of distress and sorrow. But it must also become evident that the warfare of which Isaiah is speaking here is not a physical state of war. Remember the picture from the viewpoint of the historical captivity of the children of Judah within Babylon. When you look at that history, you don't find Israel involved in physical warfare. Babylon was so strong that there could only be surrender on Israel's part. There was no warfare, not physically. Babylon was an empire without its match, before whom no nation could stand. And in fact, when you look at Israel's captivity, you can't even say of Babylon that it was a particularly oppressive kingdom. world power, not in a physical sense. Babylon, the captivity in Babylon was nothing like the captivity in Egypt. The Jews were able to build houses, carry on businesses, plant gardens. In fact, they began to prosper in Babylon, so much so They settled there, not even willing to return to the promised land when given the opportunity after the takeover of the Medes and Persians and the decree of Cyrus for the Israelites to return to their homeland and rebuild the city of Jerusalem and its temple. Merely 2% of the nation returned. Everyone else was too well established in Babylon. They had no desire to return. The land of Canaan, the city of Jerusalem, the temple and all its ceremonies and sacrifices pointing to Christ meant nothing to them any longer. They had succumbed, you see, to one of the wicked tactics of Babylon. In the book of Revelation, Babylon is mentioned as the representation of the anti-Christian world power that oppresses the church and the people of God But it's not interested in the physical destruction of the church, the cause of God. Babylon aims to destroy her spiritually. To destroy the cause of Christ. And that was the case in the Old Testament. It wasn't Babylon's purpose to destroy Israel as a rival nation, a nation on equal footing with Moab and Edom, for example. The kingdom of God was represented in Israel. The goal of the dragon through Babylon was to destroy the man-child, the coming Christ, as we read in Revelation chapter 12. That's why the elect remnant in Babylon were such a troubled people. They understood very well that as long as they were in Babylon, the promise of God could not be fulfilled. Besides, all the service of God was fundamentally impossible while they were in the captivity in Babylon. Because in that Old Testament economy of salvation, they needed Jerusalem, they needed the temple to serve God. That was the only place in the world where you could serve God in the Old Testament, looking to Christ. That's why they were bowed down with grief. That's why they prayed toward Jerusalem, as you find in Daniel's prophecy. And that grief was particularly heavy because they understood that the Babylonian captivity was the consequence of their guilt, their sins. That's why they sang Psalm 137. They needed the Ark of the Covenant. They needed the altar. They needed the priesthood. And all that was lost. as Isaiah looks ahead and sees the captivity of God's people in Babylon. But what did it mean to God's people in Isaiah's day, 150 years before its fulfillment? Well, for one thing, the remnant knew the terrible meaning of Isaiah's prophecy of the coming captivity in Babylon. You must remember that the true people of God, that remnant, according to the election of grace, were looking for the promise. They were looking for the promised Messiah. The destruction of Jerusalem, the Babylonian captivity, would certainly be seen by them as a threat to their own salvation. And from that point of view, when Isaiah followed with the words of the text, Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God, this served as a comfort to the elect remnant that laid hold of the promise. Because insofar as they understood the significance of this promise, as far as the Messiah was concerned, They received that comfort more abundantly, being transported with Isaiah to that time when their warfare shall have been accomplished. But no less was that pending captivity a sorrow to them, because they saw it as the chastening hand of God upon their own sin and guilt. chastisement earned by their own rebellion against the Holy One of Israel. And yes, I mean to say that the true children of Zion understood their corporate guilt. And they didn't stand back to point the finger at their wayward brothers and sisters. They knew their own hearts. And from that point of view, we must stand before our own spiritual warfare, beloved. Do I have to convince any of you that we are in a state of warfare? Can you say, as far as your own soul is concerned, that there's no warfare in your life? Nothing unsettled? No struggle in your soul? Do you find it an easy matter to live in perfect harmony with God's precepts? Is it a simple thing for you to love God with your whole being and your neighbor as yourself? Is it quite effortless for you to love the brethren, all the brethren? Do you find yourself free from all lust? From all covetousness? Do you give yourself wholeheartedly to the cause of God's kingdom? Is that your life before God? After all, he's the one with whom we have to do. And what about your relationships? What about your marriage relationships? or your relationship with each one of your children? What about your relationships between you and your fellow church members? Is everything the way it ought to be? Is there peace, perfect peace? Anyone who stands before the mirror of God's holy word knows that he or she is in a warfare, spiritual warfare. Life is a struggle. It isn't all peace. In fact, it's sometimes difficult, even overwhelmingly difficult. Frustration, sorrows, constant battles within our own soul, isn't that what describes us? That's the way it is with all the world. Why is it that people speak of living for the weekend? Why is it that we live in the day of pleasure madness of which the Apostle Paul spoke to Timothy? It's a manifestation of the desperate attempt to escape the terrible struggle the constant warfare of this earthly existence, even for an hour or two. It's the attempt to get away from the battlefield. And why is life this way? The cause of our trouble, according to the text, is our iniquity. That word iniquity speaks of our perverseness, our depravity, our guilt. That's not a particular sin, you understand. It's not merely a matter of doing something wrong. It's being wrong. It speaks of the perverseness of our natures. That's why the world is in such a state of warfare. We get what we deserve. We can point the finger all we want, we ourselves are blameworthy. Our very natures are corrupt. The poison of our natures flows like a fountain, especially, but not exclusively, by our mouths. Listen again to God's view of things from Romans 3 verse 12. This is God looking upon the whole human race. They are all gone out of the way. They are together become unprofitable. There is none that doeth good. No, not one. And then listen to how that comes to expression, what God sees first in us. Their throat is an open sepulcher. With their tongues they have used deceit. The poison of asps is under their lips, whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness. How wretched we are. And then there's yet another word in our text that speaks to the root of our troubles, our warfare, that's the word sins. Now, we've often heard sins referred to as a missing of the mark. And that's the idea of that term, but let's remember it is a willful missing of the mark. It began in the first paradise when Adam and Eve disobeyed God and ate of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. And it wasn't that the fruit was bad. The fruit was good. Delight to the eyes, good to the taste. But God had said, of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil thou mayest not eat. And the day thou eatest thereof, dying thou shalt die. And they willfully disobeyed. And that set in motion the warfare that has marked the world ever since. It wasn't that God created things in such warfare. It has become this because of iniquity, because of sin. We are not what we ought to be. We have lost our balance and become perverse. The Bible, you see, doesn't hesitate to draw us before the true scene of things. We must see this. We must see our own warfare and ourselves the cause of it. We must understand God will not allow us to be happy, will not give us joy and peace while we are in a wrong relationship to him. Let's not forget, iniquity and sin earn wages. And what does the Bible say, boys and girls? The wages of sin is death. Those wages are paid. No escaping it. So you see, the great sorrow of the children of Zion, the elect remnant, was not even so much that pending captivity in Babylon, but all that that captivity signified. They and we are troubled people. I've quoted it often. It's also found in Isaiah 57 verse 21. There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked. The wicked are like the troubled sea when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt. There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked. No peace, only warfare. Is the situation hopeless then? Yes, except for one thing. Into this world of men and women laden with iniquity, into the midst of this great ongoing warfare, God sends a comforting message to his people. He sends this message Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. God sees a people in need of comfort, a desperate people. He sees a people that need the gospel, good news. The tears of the sorrowing sinner must be wiped away. Note well, comfort is only for the weak, the sorrowing, who comprehend the devastation that is theirs because of their sin and under the chastening hand of God. Those who think they are strong don't need comfort. As Jesus said, the whole need not a physician, but they that are sick. the faithful God designates as those who are to receive comfort, the faithful God designates those who are to receive comfort as my people, my people. What an amazing thing that is. Comfort ye, comfort ye, my people, saith your God. That comfort comes, therefore, as an expression of his eternal love. His people belong to him. They belong to him because he has chosen them and formed them for himself in Christ Jesus. He's graven them upon the palms of His hands, looking upon them even from eternity in Christ Jesus. They are the apple of His eye. And that's how He speaks of His church, of all you who are in Christ Jesus. God has given His church to Christ that He might glorify her as the bride of his son, a woman of beauty without spot or wrinkle. That's the matter of emphasis in the text. If you have a reference Bible, you might find in the margin that the word translated comfortably in verse two is literally to the heart. speak ye to the heart of Jerusalem. And that means that God speaks his comfort to us, not in the form of some philosophical discourse or some abstract thoughts that we might mull over in our minds. He knows that our trouble is heart trouble. So he speaks to our hearts, addressing our greatest needs He addresses his gospel to us knowing exactly where we are in life, exactly how troubled we are. He knows all about us. He knows all about you, all your struggles, all your sorrows. And then the word that he speaks is not some new kind of self-help program, the latest popular gospel substitute in our day. He doesn't come with a remedy that requires us to take certain steps and do certain things before we see an effect in our lives. Oh, of course, the Bible spells out many evidences of Christ's life in us and shows us that living in our only comfort, we are also those who live in thankfulness to the God of our salvation by living in holiness, living in love for God and the neighbor. But when we are at the point of knowing our misery, God doesn't come to us with some new morality. Turn over a new page, start a new life. No, he sees our failure. He knows that salvation's beyond us. So he tells us of his eternal love, his tender mercies, his loving kindness, Yes, those two phrases, my people, your God, reveal a wonderful truth. Through all the pain and trouble we experience, all the warfare, consequences even of our own iniquity, God himself is leading us to glory and teaching us to sing with the psalmist, it is good for me that I have been afflicted. The comforting message that God proclaims to us is his promise, a promise with a threefold blessing. Her warfare is accomplished. Her warfare. that life of misery and hardship. And Isaiah, of course, speaks to that long period of bondage and misery brought on the nation by her own sin and apostasy, culminating in the period of wrath and indignation known as the captivity. But the promise is, that when God's purpose has been completed with that captivity, the Messiah would come. And God's kingdom would have the perfect victory. And therefore this promise reaches us too. Understand the Old Testament perspective here, beloved. The warfare of the elect in Israel was not designed to lead them to the obedience of the law for their peace, but their warfare was designed by God to point them to the necessity of a better testament, the New Testament established by the Messiah, our Lord Jesus Christ. The sacrificial worship in Jerusalem at the temple prefigured that Christ, who is in the fullness of time, would accomplish the warfare by atoning for his people in his own perfect sacrifice. Through Christ, our warfare is accomplished. Wonderful is the contrast between the warfare of the elect sinner and his full redemption. As soon as the spirit works in our hearts, that warfare begins. It seems as though everything's against us. And when we begin to see the power of the sin that has us in its grip, the strength of Babylon which holds us captive, when we see the majestic holiness of God with whom we have to do, when we see all those things, not from the judgment, the mistaken judgment of our own perspective, but from the unmistakable and righteous standard of God's holy word, Then the warfare begins. Our pride is brought low. Our boasting is stopped. The cries of a painful, guilty conscience rise from the depths of our souls. The law condemns us, and we cannot obey. We have neither righteousness or strength to make our way out of the battle. Then come the blessed words of God. Your warfare is accomplished. Not by you, but by my Christ. Then follows the second rich blessing that flows from that promise. Her iniquity is pardoned. That's the only way your warfare can be accomplished. Again, we ought to consider what this meant to the captives in the exile of Babylon, even to those to whom Isaiah spoke these words. It was their own iniquity which brought upon Judah the chastisement of the righteous God. And as they examined themselves, they could see nothing but guilt. All the blood of bulls and of goats could not take away their iniquity. But Jehovah, their God, was speaking through the mouth of his servant, your iniquity is pardoned. Yes, how precious is the blood. Not the blood of bulls and of goats, but the blood to which the blood of the bulls and goats pointed the blood of the precious Lamb of God, who taketh away the sins of the world. And now, for us, that Son of Righteousness has come. Do you understand spiritually what this means? Our iniquity threatens to carry us away. Our sins rise up against us. prevailing day by day. But in rich mercy, God has provided the payment that you and I could never pay. The debt has been satisfied. Christ has atoned God has reconciled us unto himself by Jesus Christ, writes the apostle to the church at Corinth in 2 Corinthians 5 verse 18. And he has given us the ministry of reconciliation. Hear those words of comfort, people of God. And then there's that final statement of gospel truth. which really gives the ground for the other two aspects of this glorious promise of God. She hath received of the Lord's hand double for all her sins. Now, you look at that, as do I, and realize that that's a peculiar expression. What does that mean? received of the Lord's hand double for all her sins. It can't refer to double punishment because Christ has paid the price. So the words of comfort for the church are that she has received of the Lord's hand double for all her sins. That is double blessing in the place of all her sins. And isn't this true to the word of God and our own experience even? The blessings of the gospel are unspeakable consolation. As Paul writes in Romans 5 verse 20, where sin abounded, grace did much more abound. The grace of God is overwhelmingly greater than all our sins. For Christ not only removed the punishment that was due us, but he has given us infinitely more according to the riches of God's grace. And so we preach unto you the unsearchable riches of Christ, Ephesians 3 verse 8. Though you be poor or in the midst of affliction, downcast or despised by men, if the Lord imputes not iniquity to you, you are a blessed man or a blessed woman. When the power of Jesus' blood has cleansed you from all your iniquity and given you by faith access into the throne of God's infinite grace, then you know that you've received double for all your sins. And beloved, God's message of comfort points us to His own sure work This is the gospel of Jesus Christ. This is the gospel of God sending his own son, his only begotten, into this world in our place and for our salvation. This is the gospel of God telling us that his son has borne our iniquity and carried away all our sins to give us instead the riches of the fullness of God's grace. Here is that shaft of light pouring down from heaven, which light shines in the midst of Zion, the church of the living God. Though his people forsake him often, he will not forsake them. He is unchangeably faithful to his covenant, to you, his people. Yes, through pain and troubles we are led, purified by the fires of affliction and tribulation. The church that is unfaithful must bear the wrath of Almighty God. But the promises of Jehovah shall never be broken. He has a peculiar people in this world, a people set apart for himself. All the rest is dross and chaff to be purged away and burned in the fire. But Zion, the elect remnant, shall be redeemed with judgment and her converts with righteousness. And he who speaks this comforting message, though he uses weak and sinful men to bring it, is God himself, your God. Yes, God's message comes through men whom he commissions to proclaim his word on his behalf. And to his servants, he gives the blessed privilege of proclaiming this wonderful message. but make no mistake, it's a message sent from God. To his own perfect work, he points us. The wonder work of his sovereign and particular grace. There's a mistaken notion, very common in Christian circles. You become a Christian by your own effort. God's message of comfort points us to himself, to his work in saving us. Those to whom this promise is sent are those who have received. They have received of the Lord's hand the very God whom we have repeatedly insulted and against whom we have repeatedly rebelled, so concerned Himself with us that He did the only thing that could be done to rescue us and to redeem us and to reconcile us unto Himself. He gave His only begotten Son to the death of the cross. What a wonder. What a comfort. That's the gospel that I joyfully preach to you. Amen. Heavenly Father, we stand in awe before Thee and the wonder of Thy grace thankful for the gospel which Thou dost proclaim to us through Christ and by Thy servants. Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God." Give us, Father, to live by faith in the joy and comfort of that Word. for Jesus' sake. Amen. Psalter number 353. Versification of Psalm 124, and you can see the children of Zion singing this song upon their deliverance. Pay attention to the words as we sing the three stanzas, 353. you. you ♪ Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me. you and deeds in glory let them sell. And blessed be this glorious day, long as the ages shall endure, our holy earth extend this way, The Lord bless thee and keep thee. The Lord make His face shine upon thee and be gracious unto thee. The Lord lift up His countenance upon thee and give thee peace. Amen.