COMFORT MY 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."  (Isaiah 40:1,2).

The covenant that God made with His people in the Old Testament was often marked by His wrath being poured out upon them for some misdeed or another.  He that despised Moses' law often died without mercy.  Of course, this is because the law was all about works.  "For Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law, 'That the man which doeth those things shall live by them.' "  (Romans 10:5).  How extraordinary, then, are the words of Isaiah.  God wanted to comfort His people, and speak to their very hearts and their inner man with tender words of hope.

What were these words of comfort that God wished to speak - no, that He wished to cry out - to His people?  That her warfare was over, and her sins were pardoned.  What could be more comforting to a people whose lives were consumed with fighting and struggling with themselves to keep every point of the law, yet failing miserably at every turn (as all men must).  These words must have seemed like rivers of hope in a desert of frustration and confusion.

These prophetic words of Isaiah are no less inspiring for us today.  For although we are living under a new and better covenant with God, many still fall back into the old struggles with self.  They still operate as though their salvation was dependent upon their own performance rather than on the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ.  They find themselves engaged in a warfare of the mind and of the flesh that they cannot hope to win by themselves.  For this reason they find themselves laden with fear and guilt.  They have not fully realized that our warfare is not carnal, but spiritual, and that the weapons that God has furnished us with are mighty through His great power.  They are capable of pulling down strongholds, and casting aside our faulty human reasoning and imaginations.  They are even powerful enough to harness every carnal thought and make it subject to Christ.  (2 Corinthians 10:3-5).  

What are the weapons of our warfare?  They are the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, the breastplate of righteousness, the girdle of truth, and the preparation of the gospel of peace.  (Ephesians 6:11-17).  We must be clear, however, that all of these things are found in Christ Jesus our Lord.  They are not commodities that we can obtain and use outside of Him.  We can wield the sword of the Spirit because Jesus is the Word of God.  We can trust in our salvation because Christ is our salvation.  We can gird ourselves with truth because He is the truth, the life, and the way.  It is because of Him that I can do all things, but in myself there dwells no good thing.  (Romans 7:18).  It is Christ in me that is my hope of glory, and now that I have received Him, it is essential that I learn to walk in Him. 

In the 40th chapter of Isaiah, the prophet continues by telling of the one who would call God's people to repentance and preparing the way of the Lord.  Indeed, every valley must be exalted and every mountain and hill brought low.  Every crooked way must be straightened and every rough road made smooth.  Our lives must become cleared of all the obstacles and pitfalls that hinder God's working in us.  How?  By allowing the glory of the Lord to be revealed in us, and Jesus is that revelation.  We must understand that all flesh is like grass.  Its greatest glory only blooms for a moment and then fades away forever, but the Word of God will stand for eternity.  Be comforted, therefore.  Your warfare is over, your sin is pardoned.
 
"He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength. Even the youths 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."   (Isaiah 40:29-31).

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