Sermon # 151 Series: Isaiah
Title: “The Lord Hath Comforted His People.”
Text: Isaiah 49: 13
Subject: God’s
Comfort for His People.
Date: Sunday Evening – May 23, 1993
Introduction:
To the soul that needs it, probably, the greatest, most appreciated
thing in all the world is comfort. That
is my subject tonight. You will find
the title of my message right in the middle of our text. “The
Lord Hath Comforted His People.”
When Isaiah thought about the great consolations promised in this chapter to the people of God, he felt that his tongue alone could never express the joy that flooded his heart. The old prophet called on the heavens to sing. “Sing, O heavens!”
Then he called upon the earth to sing God’s praise, saying, “and be joyful, O earth; and break forth into singing, O mountains!”
The theme of wonder and praise is comfort, God’s comfort for his people. “The Lord hath comforted his people and will have mercy upon his afflicted.” If you will stop and think about it for a moment, you will see that this is indeed a theme of wonder, worthy of praise in heaven as well as the earth.
Proposition: Our great, infinite, all-glorious God stoops to comfort his people in this world.
Mr. Spurgeon expressed the wonder of this text in these words- “From the highest heavens, he stoops to the couch of deepest woe, to lift us up from our sins and sorrows by the power of his eternal love.
Divisions:
I have a very simple outline to follow tonight. As I give out my points, you will readily see them in the text. It clearly reveals these things.
1. The Lord God Has A People In This World.
2. The People of God In This World Need To Be Comforted.
3. The Lord God Gives His People The Comfort They Need.
I. The Lord God Has A People In This World.
Isaiah does not us general terms. He does not say, “The Lord has comforted the sons of men.” He says, “The Lord hath comforted his people.” “His people” are, as Isaac Watts put it…
“A garden walled around, chosen and made peculiar ground; A little spot enclosed by grace out of the world’s wide wilderness.
It is concerning a particular portion of the human race that Isaiah speaks. He says, with regard to a special select elect people, “The Lord hath comforted his people.”
A. They are the objects of the Special, Sovereign, Distinguishing Love- (Jer. 31:3; Rom. 9:13).
1. God’s Benevolence extends to all creatures (Ps. 145: 9, 10).
2. God’s Love is toward His Own People (I Pet. 2: 9; Eph. 1: 9).
God’s Love is…
B. His People have been Redeemed to Him and
Redeemed By Him with Special, Particular Redemption.
“The Lord hath visited and redeemed his people!” I fully believe that the blood and sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ is so infinitely meritorious that had there been ten thousand worlds full of sinners nothing more could have been required for the ransom of them all! But that is not the issue. The issue is not about the value of the atonement, but the extent and intent of the atonement.
Note: Those who preach universal atonement are the ones who limit the value of the atonement!
The Scriptures teach that our Lord Jesus Christ died for and redeemed “his people”- (Matt. 1: 21).
C. His People Are The People He Calls by His Holy Spirit To Life And Faith In Christ – (Ps. 65:4).
1. There is a General Call – “Many are called, but few are chosen.”
2. There is a Particular, Effectual Call (Acts 2:39; Eph. 2:1-4).
Illus: Ezekiel’s Infant.
The Dry Bones.
Lazarus.
Note: The word Church comes from the Greek word, “ecclesia”- It means “The called out ones.”
D. His People, Loved with a Special Love,
Purchased by a Special Redemption, Saved by a Special Call are all Under the
Care of Special Providence.
Psalm 34:7
Isaiah 43:3-4
Hebrews 1:14
Romans 8:28
E. His People shall be His People forever, Throughout the Never Ending Bliss of Eternity which Has Been Especially Prepared for Them- (Mal. 3:17; Matt. 25:34).
II. The People of God In This World Need To Be
Comforted.
It would be a matter of redundancy for me to stand before you and try to convince you that you need comfort. Yet, I think we need to remind ourselves that all of God’s people in this world need comfort – Not just me!
A. We all need comfort because we Live In A World of Sorrow- “Man is born unto trouble as the sparks fly upward!”
B. But God’s People In This World Have a
Double Set of Troubles.
We not only have the troubles of life in this sin-cursed earth, but also those troubles that are peculiar to the people of God.
III. The Lord God Has Given His People In This World The Comfort They Need- “The Lord hath comforted his people.”
How can I begin to set before you the sweet consolations that the Lord God gives to his children in this world? Let me simply innumerate a few.
A. The Holy Scriptures (Rom. 15:4).
B. The Ministry of The Word (Eph. 4:11-16).
C. Prayer – The Mercy Seat (Heb. 4: 16).
D. The Forgiveness Of Sin (Ps. 103: 10-12).
E. Adoption (I John 3: 1).
F. His Holy Spirit (John 14: 16-18).
G. The World to Come!
Application:
Never is a man more like God than when he comforts another man.