God of Comfort

I don't know if you realize this or not, but you just sang the sermon this morning.

Far more eloquent and far more uplifting, I'm sure, than my inadequate words, but what

a rich time of just being settled, reminded of the wonder of God, the hope that we have

in Him, and the comfort that He desires to bring to us through His Son and through relationship

with Him.

Well, I don't know about any of you.

Would any of you, I'm not looking for a show of hands, just check your own heart, how many

of you would say you excel at compassion?

Or how many of you would say that comfort is your key spiritual quality, your key spiritual

gift?

I think even for the best of us in this room, my guess is that when you're wronged, there

isn't just a little hint of justice in you, in wanting to get a little vengeance, perhaps,

on that individual who's hurt you in some way.

As I was thinking about this for myself, one vivid activity or event kind of flared up or

flashed up in my mind, and it happened while I was in California.

See, in the early 2000s, I was living in Southern California, about 30 miles away from the Master's

Seminary.

And so in order to get to the seminary, there was one of two options.

I could either drive a car and fight the traffic there and back, which would be about an hour

both ways, sometimes as much as two hours both ways, or I could hop on a motorcycle and take

my life in my own hands and split lanes there and back, which means that you're allowed to

drive between the cars.

That's actually legal in California.

And do it in half the time so that instead of a four-hour chunk or block of time, it was

somewhere around, you know, an hour and a half there and back.

So I chose option number two.

Well, you know, God was just really gracious to me, but in one specific instance, I was

getting onto the 101, heading southbound back to my home, and I was just next to Universal

Studios going up the hill.

And if you understand, the highways or freeways in California are five lanes both directions.

And in addition, there were two lanes that were merging.

I was in the number one and number two lane, actually between the two, splitting lanes going

down in rush hour traffic.

And it was bumper to bumper, and the person ahead of me didn't like the fact that I was

going to be getting ahead of him.

Right?

He sees this motorcycle kind of cutting up between the cars, and so he decides that because

this is not fair, and he's got to wait in traffic, that I should wait too.

So he kind of crowds me out and comes and hugs that center lane so I can't get by.

Well, fortunately, the car next to him decides to move over and give me a little space, and

I'm going to take it.

So I begin to take this space, and as I'm looking over at this car, I notice that in the driver's

seat is this young teenage...

I was going to say punk, but I shouldn't say punk.

Bad word.

There you go.

You see?

There's my flesh coming out.

There it is.

This young teenage juvenile, and just imagine, okay, he is sitting back in his seat, arm extended,

and he's got this leather jacket.

He's looking back at me.

You know what's going on in his head, okay?

Well, I make my way by, and there's just a little chuckle in my heart because I know

he's got to wait.

I get right on his front bumper, and then all of a sudden, boom!

He runs into the car ahead of him because he was paying attention to me and not paying

attention to the traffic patterns that were taking place in his lane.

Now, for someone, again, who is a little fleshly, there was this flash of vindication in my heart.

Justice!

Ha-ha!

He got what he deserved.

Serves him right.

Now, what was not going through my mind was, oh, I should pull over and make sure he's okay.

I should pull over and make sure that everyone is doing fine in this situation.

No, for me, it was, ha-ha!

I'm out of here.

See you later.

Well, fortunately, that's my heart, but that is not the heart of our God.

The heart of our God is a heart of overflowing compassion for people.

And here we come to Isaiah chapter 40.

Isaiah 40 · chapter mention

That's where we're going to be this morning.

And what we find in Isaiah chapter 40 is this dramatic transition that has taken place.

Isaiah 40 · chapter mention

If you remember in our study, you remember that the first 39 chapters of Isaiah dealt with this holy God,

with this righteous, unwavering standard,

who is addressing his corrupt and ungodly people

and seeks to call their heart to the unchangeable and unwavering standard.

He confronts them and rebukes them with their wickedness.

He even challenges their corrupt worship,

working through and moving through the superficiality of worship,

this veneer that had coated their heart,

thinking that perhaps they were doing things that made God happy

when in fact they had made him hurt and sorrowful and grieving over their sin.

You would expect that a God who had been so gracious with his people leading up to that point would say,

it is over.

I am through.

It is done.

But we come to chapter 40 and we see not what we would expect,

but we see the gracious, comforting, glorious God

who desires to show up and to give his people comfort.

Look with me, if you will, to Isaiah chapter 40.

Isaiah 40 · chapter mention

And I just want to open with the first few words as an introduction to our study this morning.

Isaiah chapter 40.

Isaiah 40 · chapter mention

Let me just read the first couple of verses

to give us a path into this study today.

It says,

Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.

Speak tenderly to Jerusalem and cry to her heart.

Excuse me.

Cry to her that her warfare is ended,

that her iniquity is pardoned,

that she has received from the Lord's hand double for all of her sins.

This morning I want to look at comfort.

That really is the anthem,

not only of Isaiah chapter 40,

Isaiah 40 · chapter mention

but becomes this anthem throughout the rest of the book.

From chapters 40 all the way to chapter 66,

we see this comforting hand and comforting heart of God

that seeks to come to his people

and to minister to them in a tangible and physical and emotional and spiritual way.

Wants to deal with them in every aspect of life

and lead them to true comfort.

And that's what we see here.

And so as we look at comfort this morning,

I want us to ask some questions this morning.

And I want to begin with this question.

And the question is, why does comfort come?

Why do we have the option for comfort in the first place?

Why is it available to us?

Well, we see here in the very first verse,

and in the verses that follow,

what we're going to find is that this chapter is separated out into stages of proclamation.

The first stage of proclamation there in verse 1

is the stage of proclamation where God is initiating comfort.

Because it is God's desire for his people.

So why does comfort come?

Well, comfort comes initially because it is God's desire for you.

God wants you to know and enjoy his comfort.

He says, comfort my people.

He says, a voice is crying.

I want, again, to get your attention.

We've seen this a number of times throughout our study already,

that the repeating of the words and the repeating of the command

is to draw emphasis to the urgency of God

in seeking to bring to his people something that they lack.

And now their heart needs to be ministered to.

Their lives need to be touched by something outside of them,

something that only God can bring,

the comfort that only comes from him,

and comfort that comes because that is God's desire for them.

Everything that follows in this chapter

is because of the initiating comfort of God.

We have comfort because the God of all comfort

has made comfort accessible.

It shows up for you.

You can have it for yourself

because God has chosen to make it available.

Now, certainly we look for comfort in a lot of different venues,

a lot of different places,

but make no mistake, comfort can only be found in him.

So if you need comfort this morning,

don't waste your time looking anywhere else.

Comfort is available to you,

but comfort can only be found in him.

There is no true comfort apart from him.

And so we can't find comfort apart from him.

And he wants to give it to us.

There is this eagerness of God

to let us participate in this comfort that he gives to us,

that he makes available to us.

One might think that Israel had exhausted all of their opportunities.

One might think that they had used up

all of the grace that was available to them,

but we find yet again here God showing up to say,

you haven't moved too far away.

Comfort is still available to you.

God's desire for their comfort that we find here

in this first phrase that initiates the rest of this study

through this chapter.

He renews his covenant love for them.

We have access to comfort

because he yearns for us to enjoy it.

Second, we see that comfort comes

because of a pardoning God.

God chooses to forgive.

First, God desires comfort for you.

And second, God chooses to forgive.

We sang about that earlier in our worship together.

We have a pardoning God.

He chooses to forgive.

You know, a common misconception about comfort

is that comfort is all about how I feel.

Comfort is about an attitude.

Comfort is about making me feel accepted.

It's about something that is relational for sure,

but it's more external in nature.

What God wants the people of Israel to understand

is that although there are some external components to comfort,

what God is really interested in

is not the external

so much as he's interested in the entire life,

the entire person,

the core person that you are.

He doesn't care so much about the externals.

He cares about your heart.

He cares about everything in your life.

He wants to change it all.

And so, in showing up in terms of comfort,

he needs to correct the initial

and he needs to correct the thing

that corrupts comfort in your heart,

that disrupts it to the very core,

and that is the sin that gets in the way

of your enjoyment of fellowship with the God of comfort.

If God is comfort and comfort only comes through him,

then your sin always gets in the way

of you enjoying true and lasting comfort

that God would seek to provide for you.

So, if he's going to clear the way for comfort to come in

and to pour into your life,

it needs to happen through pardoning,

through forgiving,

through cleansing.

God deals with the real issues of life.

He's not so interested with the externals

as much as he is interested with the core parts

of who you are.

As we read this language,

he says in verse 2,

look with me,

it says,

speak tenderly to Jerusalem.

And the Hebrew actually says,

speak to their heart.

Make a heart connection with them.

Let them know that I'm interested

at the deepest levels of who they are.

Let her know that her warfare is ended,

that her iniquity is pardoned.

Notice,

and maybe unless you're an English major,

notice the passive aspect of these words.

Her iniquity is pardoned.

It's done by another party.

We are participants.

We enjoy the aspects of activity outside of us.

And every time this word is used in the Old Testament

in a passive way,

it's always dealing with the offering of blood.

It's always dealing with what God is doing

through the sacrifices

and through the blood sacrifices

to forgive and to pardon sin.

To deal with the punishment

that comes as a result of sin,

the consequences of sin.

Blood is the only way for that to be dealt with.

But make no mistake,

Israel was never going to be able

to atone for their sins

through the sacrificial system.

If you keep your finger in Isaiah chapter 40

Isaiah 40 · chapter mention

and turn with me back to chapter 1,

we'll be able to see

at the very onset of this book

how God feels about their sacrifices.

Look with me at verse 11.

Isaiah chapter 1, verse 11.

Isaiah 1:11

It says,

So what is God talking about?

What kind of pardoning is available?

And if the offering of blood and goats

and lambs and bulls is not sufficient,

what offering is it going to take?

And as we'll look at in a few weeks from now,

in pointing forward to the perfect servant

who will come and offer the perfect sacrifice,

we come to understand in Isaiah chapter 53

Isaiah 53 · chapter mention

what that sacrifice will look like

and who that sacrifice will be.

He was despised and rejected by men,

a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.

Surely he has borne our grieves

and carried our sorrows,

yet we esteemed him stricken,

smitten by God and afflicted,

but he was pierced for our transgressions,

he was crushed for our iniquities.

Upon him,

the chastisement

was the chastisement

that brought us peace

and with his wounds

we are healed.

Pardoning happens because

of a perfect sacrifice.

God initiates comfort,

he offers it to his people,

and then he makes a way

for it to be experienced

through pardoning,

through his son,

through the perfect sacrifice.

That's the only way.

For pardoning and comfort

to happen

through the means of Christ.

So God makes it available to us.

He has a desire

for his people to experience it.

He's made a way

through forgiveness.

And he's also made a way,

as we'll find here

in the second part of verse 2,

he's made a way through discipline.

God chooses to discipline.

Now,

maybe you're asking the question,

that doesn't sound like comfort to me.

Being disciplined

isn't something

that I find very comforting.

I don't find that

very reassuring

to be quite honest with you.

How in the world

can discipline

and comfort

go together?

Well,

the reason

that comfort

and discipline

go together

is because

comfort

of God

shows up

through

his love for us

in not letting us

get away

with the sin

that we are

so easily beset by.

Rather than

continuing

to wander

down the path

without consequence,

God seeks

to get our attention,

help us to see

the bankruptcy

of the path

that we're on,

corrects us

through discipline

so that we can

enjoy the real

value of him

and be truly

satisfied by

the things

that make us

truly satisfied.

He gets in the way

so that we can

enjoy him

instead of enjoying

all of the other things

that we tend

to fill our life with.

But the other question

is this,

and as I was

looking at

this verse,

I had to scratch

my head a little bit

and ask this question.

It says,

she has received

from the Lord's hand

double

for all of her sins.

She has received

from the Lord's hand

double

for all of her sins.

What in the world

is going on here?

Is this to suggest

that forgiveness

and payment

go hand in hand?

Is this a statement

of God

that he finds

some fairness

in exacting

some sort of

retribution

on us

and only when

we've paid

double

that he will then

forgive us

for our sins?

What we find here

and what we find

throughout

the book of Isaiah

is

this is

the code

language

for God

saying

it's enough.

They have

paid enough.

My purposes

for discipline

have been accomplished.

The thing

that I intended

to do

because

of this

hard

discipline

in their life

has served

its purpose

and the purpose

is to call

attention to me,

to call them

to me

as the

God who alone

can bring

comfort.

We understand

that sin

against an

eternal God

requires

eternal

consequences.

We understand

that and so

Israel could

never begin

to pay

even a

fraction

of what they

owed to an

eternal God.

That they could

go through

an eternity

without having

paid up

the debt

that they owed

because of the

sin

that they

had incurred

in their

lives.

No,

what God

is talking

about here

is that

what has

happened

to their

life

to bring

discipline

and judgment

into their

lives

has served

its purpose

to call

attention

to me.

It has

done what

I intended

it to do.

Throughout

the book

of Isaiah

and if you

still have

your finger

there in

Isaiah

Isaiah 1 · chapter mention

chapter 1

you can

see the

whole point

of discipline

here in

this chapter.

Isaiah

Isaiah 1 · chapter mention

chapter 1

beginning in

verse 24

it says

this

therefore

the Lord

declares

the Lord

of hosts

the mighty

one of

Israel

I will

get relief

from my

enemies

and avenge

myself

on my

foes

I will

turn my

hand

against

you

and will

smelt

away

your

dross

as with

lye

and remove

all your

alloy

and I

will restore

your judges

as the

first

and your

counselors

at the

beginning

afterwards

you shall

be called

the city

of righteousness

the faithful

city

discipline

is the

purging

instrument

of God

to get

the attention

of his

people

and to

draw them

again to

himself

to help

them

understand

the bankruptcy

of where

they are

how it has

separated them

from God

and to draw

them back

to what

truly matters

to draw

them back

to himself

this is

the mercy

of God

this is

the grace

of God

to stand

in the way

of sin

to get

our attention

through discipline

and to call

us back

to him

if we were

to look

at Romans

Romans 1 · chapter mention

chapter 1

we would

see that

judgment

is to

do the

opposite

the judgment

of God

is actually

to let us

continue

to carry

out

the bankruptcy

of our

heart

without ever

calling attention

to it

listen to this

language

from Romans

Romans 1 · chapter mention

chapter 1

it says

although they

knew God

they did not

glorify him

as God

nor were they

thankful

but they

became futile

in their

thoughts

their foolish

hearts

were darkened

therefore

listen to this

God gave

them up

to uncleanness

then in verse

24

God gave

them

excuse me

verse 25

who exchanged

the truth

of God

for a lie

for this

reason

God gave

them up

to vile

passions

and in verse

28

God gave

them over

to a debased

mind

to do those

things which

are not

fitting

the judgment

of God

on a life

that he

hates

is to

just give

them up

but we

know

what the

character

of God

is towards

those

whom he

loves

whom

the Lord

loves

he

chastens

he corrects

that is a

grace of

God

it's a grace

of God

because it

calls us

back

to himself

and God

is initiating

this process

so that his

mercy

and grace

can flow

that's God's

part

of this

equation

unfortunately

we don't

always respond

to the

initiating

work of

God

in our

lives

and so

we need

to ask

this next

question

how

does

comfort

come

and what

is my

response

how does

comfort

come

we find

that in

the next

several

verses

it says

in verse

3

a voice

cries

in the

wilderness

prepare

the way

of the

Lord

make

straight

in the

desert

a highway

for our

God

every

valley

shall

be

lifted

up

every

mountain

and hill

shall be

made low

the uneven

ground

shall become

level

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

I was

beginning

to study

this

section

this

week

and of

course

it's

familiar

we know

that this

points to

John the

Baptist

ministry

the

ministry

of the

forerunner

who would

prepare the

way

for Christ's

ministry

and what

Christ would

accomplish

but I

began to

ask myself

this question

is this

referring to

the ministry

of John the

Baptist

in preparing

for Christ

or is

this

referring to

the work

of Christ

and what

he will

do

to prepare

us

for salvation

or is

this the

work that

we need

to do

are we

being called

to prepare

our own

hearts

our own

way

so that

we can

receive

the ministry

of the

gospel

which one

is it

I was

in a

quandary

so as I

look through

the book

of Isaiah

and as I

begin to

understand

the context

in which

these words

are given

I begin to

recognize that

it is talking

about the

preparation of

your heart

it is talking

about how to

make your

heart ready

for the

message

that's to

come

the message

of the

gospel

it comes

through

the preparation

of the

heart

that is

point number

one

this morning

how does

it come

it comes

through the

preparation

of the

heart

it's

repentance

versus

hardness

it is

repentance

versus

crookedness

he's calling

to these

people

the initiating

call and

proclamation

of God

in verse

one

now has

this echo

this voice

who is

calling his

audience

to further

preparation

God has

begun this

work

he has

initiated

comfort

and he's

made it

available

how does

comfort

come

it comes

as our

hearts are

ready to

receive it

now

living in

this day

and age

we are

maybe a

little distant

from what

would need

to happen

in that

ancient

culture

in terms

of preparing

a way for

a dignitary

or a king

making his

way from

one part

of the

country

or empire

to another

and any

of you

who have

driven in

places like

Pennsylvania

or Kentucky

or maybe in

the hills

of southern

Ohio

or Tennessee

you would know

that as the road

is making its

way through

the various

places

that there

are huge

sections of

the mountains

that are just

chopped away

and there

are these

chasms

where roads

can make

their way

across

and to do

it with

relative ease

and you know

that there are

some massive

bridges that

you cross

in order to

span from

one valley

to the next

this is the

concept that

we're talking

about

the same

kind of

thing would

take place

in the

ancient

culture

as a

king

was making

his way

from one

place

to the

other

he would

send

representatives

who would

prepare

the way

before him

in order

for his

path

and for

his trip

to be

as efficient

as possible

we're making

a way

for comfort

to come

and we make

the way

for comfort

to come

and it shows

up in

startling

reality

through the

ministry

of John

the Baptist

and if you

remember

anything

about John

the Baptist

ministry

you will

remember

that it

was a

ministry

of repentance

it was a

ministry

of calling

the people

to remember

their bankruptcy

in themselves

in calling

attention

to a bowed

heart

that was

receptive

to the

message

of Christ

there needed

to be

humility

there needed

to be

repentance

there needed

to be

a willingness

to receive

and to be

taught

understanding

the significance

of the sin

in their

life

making way

making

the comfort

of God

to have

accessibility

in their

lives

the difficulties

of life

can break

into

with salvation

and healing

that is

the message

that we're

hearing here

and we have

seen this

over and over

again

throughout our

study in the

book of Isaiah

we've seen

that humility

of heart

opens the

channel

for God's

comfort and

grace

to flow

why is that

because God

resists the

proud

and gives

grace

to the

humble

and as

God is the

God of

comfort

he will

come to

those

who humbly

receive him

and repent

and ask him

to do his

work in their

life

they say

we can't do

this on our

own

we need

something greater

than us

something better

than us

something outside

of us

to rescue

to save

to deliver

us

rescue comes

comfort

comes

through the

preparation

of the heart

but it also

comes notice

here at the

at the at

the verse 5

it comes

through the

presence of

the Lord

when the

way has

been made

we find

the glory

of the

Lord

shall be

revealed

and all

flesh

shall see

it

together

for the

mouth

of the

Lord

has spoken

when the

heart is

ready

the vacuum

has been

opened

and the

rush

of comfort

of God

who desires

to show up

in comfort

in your

life

rushes

to fill

the

vacancy

he rushes

to come

and to

give you

the comfort

that only

he can

bring

his presence

shows up

in your

life

in Luke

when he is

recounting

the message

and helping

to understand

helping make

the connection

between John

the Baptist

ministry

and the

words of

Isaiah

he recounts

the entire

passage

but he

changes

this last

phrase

instead of

saying the

glory of

the Lord

shall be

revealed

he says

all mankind

will see

the salvation

of God

we see the

correlation

between

salvation

and glory

John

puts it

this way

the word

became flesh

and dwelt

among us

and we

have seen

it

seen his

glory

glory

the glory

the glory

is of

the only

son

from the

father

full

of grace

and truth

Jesus

came

to reveal

the glory

of God

he came

to bring

salvation

and thus

came

to bring

comfort

to us

so that

any who

participate

in him

through faith

will be able

to experience

the comfort

of God

so that all

flesh

will see

it

together

we will

experience

the comfort

of God

through

the salvation

that we have

through faith

in Christ

the purpose

of God's

comfort

is not

just

external

change

it is

an entire

transaction

of life

it is to

meet you

at the

deepest

levels

and to

change

everything

about you

and then

you'll be

able to

really

experience

the comfort

that God

has

to bring

that leads

us to

our

last

question

this

morning

what

does

comfort

accomplish

it's

great

that

comfort

is

available

it's

great

that

we

can

experience

through

Christ

but

what

does

comfort

do

what

does

it

accomplish

in

my

life

and

we

see

this

from

verses

6

to

31

and

I

just

want

to

point

out

three

specific

things

because

we

have

the

answer

in

verses

6

to

31

but

we

don't

have

time

to

read

the

whole

passage

so

I

want

to

just

pick

out

three

things

here

initially

and

then

we'll

finish

with

five

more

questions

first

we find

in

verses

6

to

8

that

it

leads

to

confidence

in

God

what

does

comfort

accomplish

well

it

leads

to

confidence

in

God

let me

read

verses

6

to

8

a

voice

says

cry

and I

said

what

shall

I

cry

all

flesh

is

grass

and

all

its

beauty

is

like

the

flower

of

the

field

the

grass

withers

the

flower

fades

when

the

breath

of

the

Lord

blows

on

it

surely

the

people

are

grass

the

grass

withers

the

flower

fades

!

But

the

word

of

our

God

will

stand

forever

what

had been

so

true

of the

people

of

Israel

is

that

this

call

to

comfort

in

God

this

call

to

security

in

him

had

been

so

misplaced

because

they

looked

for

comfort

and

security

and

confidence

in

every

other

avenue

they

found

through

their own

misfortune

that

all of

those

things

led

to

disappointment

their

confidence

in

Egypt

their

confidence

in

other

foreign

gods

their

confidence

in

superficial

worship

their

confidence

in

going

through

the

motions

their

confidence

in

raising

up

an

army

and

preparing

the

city

of

Jerusalem

all

of

that

didn't

matter

at

all

but

what

God

is

trying

to

help

them

understand

is

my

message

to

you

can

and

will

stand

it

stands

because

it

is

coming

from

the

enduring

word

of

God

man

will

fail

you

but

the

word

of

God

will

never

let

you

down

God

is

dependable

God

is

able

to

comfort

God

is

able

to

overcome

the

temporal

nature

of

what

we

find

to be

comfortable

and

to

bring

us

some

salve

for

the

moment

God

can

bring

the

eternal

and

enduring

comfort

of

God

to

bear

on

our

life

it

leads

to

confidence

in

God

second

it

leads

to

proclaiming

the

good

news

we

find

that

in

verse

9

notice

what

it

says

go

up

to

a

high

mountain

O

Zion

herald

of

good

news

lift

up

your

voice

with

strength

O

Jerusalem

herald

of

good

news

lift

it

up

fear

not

say

to

the

cities

of

Judah

behold

your

God

it

leads

to

proclaiming

the

good

news

notice

another

channel

of

proclamation

initiated

by God

and now

flowing

through the

prophet

and now

springing

up in

the

people

as

this

comfort

continues

to

make

its

way

and

touch

and

impact

the

lives

of

the

people

in

concentric

circles

we find

that those

who experience

comfort

gush

with the

good news

of God

this

morning

one of

my kids

came

bounding

down

the

stairs

and as

they were

looking

outside

the

window

they

were

singing

this

song

about

the

snow

it

just

kind

of

flowed

out

of

them

the

smile

on

their

face

and

the

spring

in

their

step

and

just

the

happiness

of

life

I

didn't

have

to

tell

them

to

do

that

it

was

just

gushing

out

because

of

their

love

for

the

snow

the

winter

time

that

is

what's

going

to

happen

in

the

life

of

a

person

who

is

so

deeply

impacted

by

the

grace

of

God

and

the

comfort

of

God

it

will

just

rush

out

of

you

kind

of

like

what

the

psalmist

says