isa 40v01 Comfort Ye Comfort Ye My People Saith Your God
This is the charge which God gives to all who preach
the gospel. The prophets of God are preeminently messengers of comfort (Isa.
52:7). We come to men in the name of God and proclaim, to all who will receive
it, a message of blessed comfort in Jesus Christ.
Here is a word
of comfort: THE GREAT GOD CALLS US "MY PEOPLE"! All men and
women belong to God. He who created us owns us. But there are some people in
this world who are especially loved of God and belong to him, as children to a
father, as a wife to her husband. God says, of all who are saved by his grace,
you are "my people". We belong to him by special election, by particular
purchase, by gracious regeneration, by his distinguishing call, by the faith
which he has given us, and by the bond of love which he has created.
It would seem
that nothing could be more blessed than this: God says of us, you are "my
people". Yet, here is something even more blessed and comforting: THE
ETERNAL, SOVEREIGN, TRIUNE GOD SAYS TO US, I AM "YOUR GOD"! The
almighty, infinite, incomprehensible God condescends to be the personal
possession of every believing sinner! He is God. I rejoice in that. But he is MY
GOD! That gives me comfort. Child of God, try to get a heart grip of this
truth: God almighty is YOUR GOD!
And OUR GREAT
GOD DESIRES AND DELIGHTS IN THE COMFORT OF HIS PEOPLE! Just as a father
finds happiness in the comfort of his children, our Father delights in our
comfort. He sent his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, into the world to comfort
mourning sinners (Isa. 61:1-3; Luke