The God of all Comfort

I) The Characteristic of God

Isaiah 40:1 Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her iniquity is pardoned: For she hath received of the Lord’s hand double for all her sins”

A. Many occasions in the Scriptures God speaks a word just in the perfect time to comfort his people.

Nehemiah was under attack from Syrian Army ....

Isaiah 50:10 (LEB)

Who among you is in fear of Yahweh, obeys the voice of his servant? Who walks in darkness and has no light, trusts in the name of Yahweh and depends on his God?

Psalm 85:8 (LEB) I will hear what God, Yahweh, will speak, because he will speak peace to his people, even his faithful ones, but let them not return to folly.

II) HERE IS REITERATION. "Comfort ye, comfort ye."

A. It is an inspiration of earnestness in conveying the heavenly message.

1. For God is the God of comfort.

a. The Reason God spoke this to the Prophet was because Israel had returned from Babylion Captivity.

b. Quote: First Isaiah” (Isa 1–39) was written during this time period. If a single author wrote the entire book, Isa 40–66 was probably written between 740–690 bc (i.e., within the lifetime of Isaiah). However, if multiple authors wrote Isaiah, “Second Isaiah” (Isa 40–66; or 40–55 under a “Third Isaiah” view) must have been written sometime after Israel’s return from the Babylonian exile in 539–38 bc. Isaiah 40–55 and 56–66 primarily differ in subject matter. Isaiah 1–39 and 40–55 have a distinct writing style, though Isa 1–39 is mainly narrative while 40–55 is predominately poetry (or poetic narrative).

The Lexham Bible Dictionary. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.

2. Not comfort in sin, but comfort to all who seek to be delivered from it.

a. There is no Comfort in sin …?

b. The Rich Man had a certain false comfort but Lazarus eternal Comfort

Luke 16:25 (LEB)

But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that you received your good things during your life, and Lazarus likewise bad things. But now he is comforted here, but you are suffering pain.

c. Truth is sometimes in life you just need a friend to help and Comfort that God is there?

d. Thank God - the blind man had exactly that friends that looked out for him:

Mark 10:49 LEB

And Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.” And they called the blind man and said to him, “Have courage! Get up! He is calling you.”

3. Again this Reiteration that Jesus used in one of the Gospels -like the "Verily, verily."

a. It gives emphasis to hope. For love deals not in cold aphorisms, but repeats itself, that the heart may be sure of the message.

b. Whenever Jesus said Verily: this was an assurance that he mean’t what he said.

4. Scripture basis for Comfort:

a. To convince of sin is not enough.....sin is empty - leaves brokeness and hurts.

b. To expose evil may be the work of the moral dramatist. To scorn it may be the work of the satirist......the Father of Lies

c. God is not seen this way from sinners- they only see him as a harsh Judge on sinners?

d. But God is more than a Judge; he is a Saviour. The Son of man came (as his great work), "not to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved."

5. How many lives do we see even all through the Bible esp NT - Jesus comforting people with his touch

6. The Woman with the Issue of Blood

Luke 8:48

48 And he said unto her, Daughter, be of good comfort: thy faith hath tmade thee whole; ugo in peace.

Luke 8:48 (LEB)

And he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has saved you. Go in peace.”

2 Corinthians 1:3

3 Blessed be hGod, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort;

Eph 1:3 Blessed isb the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,

g Eph. 1:3. 1 Pet. 1:3.

h See Rom. 15:6.

The Holy Bible: King James Version. (2009). (Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version., 2 Co 1:3). Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.

III) HERE IS REST.

A. God’s people needed Rest

Isaiah 40:29 “He gives power to the weary, and he increases power for the powerless.”

Historical Context: “Over the span that the book of Isaiah was written, the southern kingdom of Judah was in political upheaval due to power of nations like Assyria, Babylon, and Persia. Warfare, both threatened and real, was always present. This warfare ultimately results in God’s people being taken into exile under Babylonian rule; they eventually return under the Persian Empire.”The Lexham Bible Dictionary. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.

God’s gives rest for the People of God from their Enemies:

Her troubles and unsettled life had ended.

God Comforts us in the right moments

Job was troubled with his losses and God comforted him in the end of his ordeal.

What we can see is the end was better for Job then the middle?

Middle Crises in the thick of his loss was where his Friends tried to Comfort him

Unfortunately they were the opposite

They spoke in a manner of accusations

Sometimes this can hurt…the very one’s you thought would comfort you end up hurting you

B. The Disciples after the Resurection needed Comfort for their concerns.

They Lost their vision and hope

Jesus had not appeared to them ....life can be like this sometimes where God doesn’t seem to be around?

Text: Isaiah 40:2

Isaiah 40:2 (LEB)

“Speak to the heart of Jerusalem, and call to her,

that her compulsory labor is fulfilled, that her sin is paid for,

that she has received from the hand of Yahweh double for all her sins.”

Isaiah 3:10 (LEB)

Tell the innocent that it is good

for they shall eat the fruit of their deeds.

4. Labor can be weary and the only medicine is comfort.

5. God sends the Prophets to tell Isreal their labor is fulfilled - another words its paid for?

a. Truth is God can turn a wild desert into a beautiful spring.

b. Babylon had turned their world upside down they needed Comfort

c. How many know Babylon is just like our enemy who sometimes turns our world upside down- we need God to help us ....Comfort us!!

Acts 9:31

31 Then had gthe churches rest throughout all Judaea and Galilee and hSamaria, and were iedified; and walking in the fear of the Lord, and in the kcomfort of the Holy Ghost, were multiplied.

Isaiah 35:2 (LEB)It shall blossom abundantly, and it shall rejoice indeed with rejoicing and exulting. The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it, the majesty of Carmel and Sharon. They are the ones who shall see the glory of Yahweh, the majesty of our God.

Isaiah 35:5 (LEB)

Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be opened.

6. Every Human being needs Comfort esp Children:

King James Version 2 Corinthians 7:4–6

5 For, lwhen we were come into Macedonia, lour flesh had no rest, but we were mtroubled on every side; nwithout were fightings, within were fears. 6 Nevertheless God, that comforteth those that are cast down, comforted us oby the coming of lTitus;

a. Quote: Let there be worship of God morning and evening … and let no day slip over without some comfort received of the Word of God.’ Even a hundred years ago the sound of the evening psalm would rise from every weaver’s cottage at dusk.”

Stott, J. (2018). The Preacher’s Notebook: The Collected Quotes, Illustrations, and Prayers of John Stott. (M. Meynell, Ed.). Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.

7. The Main thrust of the NT is when Jesus said “ I Will Send you the Comforter”