The God of Comfort
Rags to Righteousness • Sermon • Submitted
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Rags to Righteousness
Rags to Righteousness
Pastor Orr and Lady Orr
Happy Birthday to our First Lady. We appreciate the elegance and grace that flows from your leadership and just as an incredible vessel God uses for His glory. Celebrations are in full effect.
#Makhia Bryant in Ohio
another tragic event.
People are in distress. . and need comfort. The global pandemic, Justice systems.. economic hardships. . medical . . social . . economic. . family
we need a word of comfort and this week God has a timely Word for us through the pen of Isaiah.
we will look at isaiah 40, 41, and 42 today
The producer David Brown is having heart pain right now because of this race we are about to run. Here we Go
Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.
Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,
and 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 her sins.
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,
and every mountain and hill be made low;
the uneven ground shall become level,
and the rough places a 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.”
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.
Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand
and marked off the heavens with a span,
enclosed the dust of the earth in a measure
and weighed the mountains in scales
and the hills in a balance?
Who has measured the Spirit of the Lord,
or what man shows him his counsel?
Whom did he consult,
and who made him understand?
Who taught him the path of justice,
and taught him knowledge,
and showed him the way of understanding?
He gives power to the faint,
and to him who has no might he increases strength.
Even youths shall faint and be weary,
and young men shall fall exhausted;
but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength;
they shall mount up with wings like eagles;
they shall run and not be weary;
they shall walk and not faint.
fear not, for I am with you;
be not dismayed, for I am your God;
I will strengthen you, I will help you,
I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
When the poor and needy seek water,
and there is none,
and their tongue is parched with thirst,
I the Lord will answer them;
I the God of Israel will not forsake them.
Behold my servant, whom I uphold,
my chosen, in whom my soul delights;
I have put my Spirit upon him;
he will bring forth justice to the nations.
He will not cry aloud or lift up his voice,
or make it heard in the street;
a bruised reed he will not break,
and a faintly burning wick he will not quench;
he will faithfully bring forth justice.
He will not grow faint or be discouraged
till he has established justice in the earth;
and the coastlands wait for his law.
Thus says God, the Lord,
who created the heavens and stretched them out,
who spread out the earth and what comes from it,
who gives breath to the people on it
and spirit to those who walk in it:
“I am the Lord; I have called you in righteousness;
I will take you by the hand and keep you;
I will give you as a covenant for the people,
a light for the nations,
God’s Comfort
God’s Comfort
see the words he uses: speak tenderly, pardoned,
God’s declaration is that no matter how bad things have been. . . grace is available to you.
The goodness of God is on full display.
The Good news: God can take the rags of your life and mold them and make it something new.
That’s wonderful. . . many people lived in ways we can’t discuss, yet God gave comfort when we did not deserve.
the text of Isaiah: Hezekiah had just done something terrible.
He was in the High end and stood up to the Assyrian army in chapter 36-37
then made a bad decision: he shows Babylon everything all of the wealth of the city. And God pronounced judgement and damnation because of it.
Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of the Lord of hosts: Behold, the days are coming, when all that is in your house, and that which your fathers have stored up till this day, shall be carried to Babylon. Nothing shall be left, says the Lord. And some of your own sons, who will come from you, whom you will father, shall be taken away, and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.” Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “The word of the Lord that you have spoken is good.” For he thought, “There will be peace and security in my days.”
Hez was happy that destruction would not happen in his days. . he was a little too excited about this proclamation.
We have to live and prepare for the next generation. Unfortunately, many people are just living for the day. living for the right now and they are making decisions that have severe implications on the next generations.
Even after this. . . God supplies comfort.
God’s greatness
God’s greatness
verse 6-8
and 12-14
we see the greatness of God on full display.
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.
Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand
and marked off the heavens with a span,
enclosed the dust of the earth in a measure
and weighed the mountains in scales
and the hills in a balance?
Who has measured the Spirit of the Lord,
or what man shows him his counsel?
Whom did he consult,
and who made him understand?
Who taught him the path of justice,
and taught him knowledge,
and showed him the way of understanding?
These passages speak to the greater truth of the Awesome power of God. . and his greatness.
We all love greatness: that is why Michael Jordan, jackson, tyson are so loved. They were extremely great in fields of human endeavor.
Just yesterday we celebrated one of the greatest singers of all time: Luther vandross - his birthdate and my wife and i were in a back and forth battle with friends about which phase of luther was the best.
But when people are great and accomplish feats: there are these things called accolades that follow them.
Sports- championships, MVp
Music and Movies- awards
Many of you: its your material things, education,
God- its His Being his very existence . . he gives some proofs of His greatness
read the text:
also
Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!
“For who has known the mind of the Lord,
or who has been his counselor?”
“Or who has given a gift to him
that he might be repaid?”
For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.
God’s Peace: 41 and 42
God’s Peace: 41 and 42
The call to fear not and the the promise of the Messiah
fear not, for I am with you;
be not dismayed, for I am your God;
I will strengthen you, I will help you,
I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
good news
casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.