왕을 닮은 아들 恩江

12/01/22

God created the heavens and the earth (2)

Genesis 2:1-3

1 Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array. 2 By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. 3 And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.

Today’s memory verse of the Scriptures: And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done. (Gen. 2:3)

(Introduction)

Welcome to EWS! This is the 4^th week of the New Year. And today is the first day that lunar New Year’s Day begins. It is one of the most important and biggest holidays in Korea. More than millions people move to their hometowns in order to meet their family and relatives. Especially, because most people in these days live in big cities away from their parents, it is not only they should come to their parents but also do they want to see them. Because modern people need comfort and rest. Twice a year or more than twice, people visit their old friends or family to have a rest. Lots of people, especially most Korean are accustomed to be busy in their life, they desperately need to rest. So today I want to talk about the true rest and peace coming from our God.

Today’s passage is a story about the 7^th day of creation. It is still a continuous story about the creation, but a little different story from ch.1. The work of creation for 6 days shows same patterns and styles in ch.1. However from ch.2, it shows a little different style. It shows how the 7^th day is different and distinguished from the other 6 days. It means that the 7^th day is the actual climax of the creation. The creation of human being on the 6^th day could be the most interesting and important part of the creation, but it can’t be the climax. The climax is at the 7^th day. The whole creation for 6 days exists for the 7^th day. Moreover, the expression ‘the seventh day’ is repeated for 3 times in this text in order to emphasize its significance. So, today, as the 2^nd sermon on God’s creation, I’m going to preach about the meaning and the importance of the 7^th day, Sabbath. Let’s get back to the Scriptures.

(Body)

V.1, “Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array.” It begins with “Thus.” What does it mean by ‘thus’? It means ‘a conclusion’ or ‘a result’ of something happened before. So, ch.2 is talking about the conclusion or the result of 6 days creation which appeared in ch.1. How did God create the heavens and the earth? God ‘created’ them by saying, and he ‘said’, ‘saw’, ‘separated’ and ‘called’. That was how he worked, and we learned it 2 weeks ago. Today, we’ll cover 4 different Hebrew verbs that describe the acts of God in ch.2.

1.     hlk(kalah) : ‘to finish’

The first Hebrew verb which describes God’s action is ‘kalah’, which means ‘to finish’. The word ‘kalah’ is used in today’s passage 3 times. And it is used for the first time at v.1. V.1 says “Thus the heavens and the earth were completed(ikulu) in all their vast array.” The verb ‘kalah’ is used here in the form of ‘pual’ which is a passive tense. All his creation was beautiful and adorable, but they were just creatures. They couldn’t be compared to God who is worthy of our worship. It says “Thus the heavens and the earth were completed” they were just created beings by the Word of God. Deuteronomy 4:19 says, “And when you look up to the sky and see the sun, the moon and the stars--all the heavenly array--do not be enticed into bowing down to them and worshiping things the LORD your God has apportioned to all the nations under heaven.”

They are only creatures, so we shouldn’t worship them nor honor them with the worth of God. In the Ancient times, people used to worship the heavenly host such as the Sun, the Moon, and the stars. They even used to tell fortunes of their people by observing them. However, the teachings of Bible strictly forbid such trials of human for they are also created beings. All the heavens and the earth and everything in it are the works of God, and the work of creation was finished by the 6^th day. God is the finisher, and all creatures were finished by the Word of God.

At v.2 it says, “By the 7^th day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the 7^th day he rested from all his work.” God finished all his work in order to take a rest. Does this sound strange to you? You have to understand this. God didn’t rest because he finished all his work, but God finished all his work in order to have a rest and to have an intimate relationship with his people in the rest. Where to put a focus is important. To have a rest on the 7^th day is the aim and the purpose of the creation of the former 6 days.

Let me give you an example. Your mom cooked a very delicious and tasty meal with lots of ingredients, and dressed a wonderful sauce on it. And now what? Does she enjoy it ‘because’ she cooked it? No, she gives it to you, to the precious children. There’s rarely a mom who cooks in order to enjoy it by herself. However, our mom thinks first how to please and how to make us happy by making best food, and she imagines our happiness well-expressed on our face and voice, and then she cooks! That’s the process of cooking.

Likewise, the process of creation seems to put the 7^th day to the end, but the 7^th day is not the result of what happened for the past 6 days. Rather, it is the purpose or the climax of the past 6 days. In other words, God finished all his work in order to have a rest with his creatures. We’ll go deeper later at the verb ‘shabath’. So let’s move to the second verb, ‘barak’.

마찬가지로, 창조의 과정은 일곱째 날을 가장 마지막으로 놓는 것 같아 보이지만, 일곱째 날은 지난 6일 동안 일어난 것들의 결과가 아닙니다. 다른 말로 하면, 하나님께서는 그의 피조물들과 함께 안식하시기 위해 그의 모든 일을 마치신 것입니다. 이 안식에 대해서는 마지막 동사인 ‘shabath’에서 좀 더 자세히 살펴보겠습니다. 자, 그럼 이제 두 번째 동사인 ‘barak’으로 넘어가 봅시다.

2.     %rB(barak) : ‘to bless’

‘barak’ means ‘to bless’. God blessed the 7^th day. God blessed it because he wanted it. It was his desire to enjoy it. Before he blessed the 7^th day, he should have finished and stopped first from all his work. Blessing is the first work that God did after finishing his work. So, it is God’s eager desire and longing to bless us and to bless the time that he spent with us. Because he made us for that reason, it is the way he is glorified in us. God’s method of grace and blessing is through the Word and through prayer. We can receive his grace by the Word and prayer. That’s why we need to come to our Father every day, every hour, and every minute, especially every Sunday.

Then, here’s a question for you. Do you come to the Father to bless him or to be blessed by him? Both are correct answers. Of course, we come to bless him but also we come to be blessed by him. Is it too selfish and self-centered if we come to our Father to be blessed? No! It is God’s pleasure that we are blessed.

Yesterday, I had an opportunity to visit our brothers and sisters. While visiting them, I could see their passion and desire to join our worship service. It was so desperate. We, at least, I sometimes take it for granted to come to church and worship God. However, look around our brethren. And hear the news coming from North Korea, China, and many other countries where it is very hard for Christians to worship our God in public. See their passion for worship him, the way they worship regardless of any forms of persecution or humiliation. But you know what? God’s passion for you is much greater than we have. It is God’s desire, joy, and passion to be worshipped by all his people. Therefore, to be blessed by him in the worship service is also one of his deepest and desperate wishes.

That’s why we He calls us ‘blessed’ in Deut. 33:29, “Blessed are you, O Israel! Who is like you, a people saved by the LORD? He is your shield and helper and your glorious sword. Your enemies will cower before you, and you will trample down their high places.” And in Psalms 144:15, “Blessed are the people of whom this is true; blessed are the people whose God is the LORD.” Again in Psalms 72:17, “May his name endure forever; may it continue as long as the sun. All nations will be blessed through him, and they will call him blessed.”

That’s what he really desires. His longing for blessing us is much greater than our longing for receiving his blessing. When we are blessed by him, it is God who is glorified in us. However, the most important thing is to be blessed by him alone. God is sole and the only source for the real blessing. No one else, nothing else but God! So that’s why it is said in Psalm 1, “Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers.” Blessed is the man who is just like a tree planted by streams of water. So brethren, I encourage you to be blessed only by and only through our God, who is the source of blessing.

God is passionately waiting for us both to bless us and to be blessed us. That’s why our worship should not be ceased. Through Sunday worship service, God not only blesses us but also is blessed by us. However, the priority and the emphasis is more on his blessing to us. He blesses us first, and we also bless him as a proper response. He blesses us through his Word, sermon and prayer, and then he is blessed by our praise and offerings. Once we are blessed by him, then we could also bless him in return as well as our neighbors. Thus we say, God is the one who wants to bless us and to be blessed by us. ‘Worshipping God’ is, in other words, ‘blessing God’.

3.     Vdq(kadash) : ‘to consecrate’

Not only God blessed the 7^th day, but also did he make it holy. God consecrated and sanctified the 7^th day. The first thing that God made holy was ‘the seventh day’, which is not the space nor any objects, but the time. Blessing and sanctification comes together. He blesses us, and at the same time he sanctifies us. Because only through the work of blessing and sanctification of God, can we enjoy an intimate relationship with him.

The Hebrew verb ‘kadash’ means ‘to distinguish’. God distinguished the 7^th day from the other 6 days. God blessed and consecrated it. He worked very hard to create us for 6 days, but he ceased his work and rested on the 7^th day. God made it holy, and distinguished it from the other 6 days because it was the 1^st day that God spent with his people. The 7^th day is not a day that we do nothing and just take a rest. That is not the intension of God. It is the day that we distinguish 1 day from the other 6 days in order to enjoy the relationship with our Creator! God made it holy, and he wanted pleasurable relationship with us on that day.

He made a covenant with his people, and through the covenant he enjoys the relationship. We call it ‘The Ten Commandments’. If you turn your Bible to the very last page, there is ‘the Ten Commandments’. Or in Exodus 20:8-11, “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates. For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.”

Without this covenant, we have nothing to do with him because the covenant is something that God makes with his people. We are called as ‘his people’ because of the covenant. In other words, our relationship with God is founded upon the covenant. In this covenant, keeping the Sabbath day holy is a way of remembering it. We should remember and distinguish it from the other 6 days because God did so. God first distinguished the 7^th day in order to have a meaningful, valuable, precious time with us, so we, his people, ought to distinguish it in the same manner. The reason why he asks us to do so is because he himself is a holy (distinguished) God and we are his holy (distinguished) people.

4.     tbv(shabath) : ‘to stop’

The last but not the least word is ‘shabath’. It means ‘to stop’. In many English version including NIV, KJV, NASB, ESV, and also in Korean version it is translated as ‘to rest’, but the actual meaning is ‘to stop’ not ‘to rest’. What does that mean? It means that the significance of keeping Sabbath is not just to rest but to stop what we have done for 6 days. If we go on doing what we used to do during the 6 days again even on Sabbath, the Sabbath is no longer special. Then, you might wonder and question, “Then, should I stop everything that I used to do during the other 6 days? I have no freedom to cook, eat, wash, watch TV, talk with friends, or to breathe? Then what can I do? I just go inside my room and doing nothing? Or sleeping? Of course not. When we interpret the Scriptures, the literal meaning is important but not enough. Whenever we read it, we have to read it carefully to find out what God actually means by it. In other words, we have to focus on God’s intension and purpose of saying it.

If we turn to Hebrews ch.4, we see that the author of Hebrews is talking about entering God’s rest. If we understand the meaning of ‘entering God’s rest’ in Hebrews ch.4, we’ll find out that it is about a rest which is gained through the faith and the obedience to Jesus Christ. From v.3 to v.11 it says,

“3 Now we who have believed enter that rest, just as God has said, "So I declared on oath in my anger, 'They shall never enter my rest.'" And yet his work has been finished since the creation of the world. 4 For somewhere he has spoken about the seventh day in these words: "And on the seventh day God rested from all his work." 5 And again in the passage above he says, "They shall never enter my rest." 6 It still remains that some will enter that rest, and those who formerly had the gospel preached to them did not go in, because of their disobedience. 7 Therefore God again set a certain day, calling it Today, when a long time later he spoke through David, as was said before: "Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts." 8 For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken later about another day. 9 There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; 10 for anyone who enters God's rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his. 11 Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall by following their example of disobedience.”

According to Hebrews, those who didn’t believe and obey couldn’t enter the rest of God. And God prepared “another day”, and that is the day of victory that Jesus Christ won on the cross. Only by faith and obedience to our faithful Savior can we enter the rest of God! This is the true meaning and significance of Sabbath.

God wants us to enter his rest. It is God’s desire and eager expectation for us. How can you enjoy the true rest in your life? Just doing nothing? Or just coming to church? No one can enter and enjoy God’s rest unless he/she receives Jesus Christ as his/her personal Savior. No one can enter God’s rest unless he/she believes in him and obey to his Word. However, accepting Jesus as a personal Savior is not enough. You have to treasure him more than anything in the world. There are many Christians who say, “I believe in Jesus, and received him as my personal Savior, but I don’t want to be always with him. I respect him as my Savior but I don’t treasure him. My treasure is something else, and I hope he can help me to enjoy it.” Does this make sense?

Treasuring him, valuing him, prioritizing him, putting him first above all other things should follow after accepting him as a personal Savior. That’s why you come to church and worship him every Sunday. That’s why you spend precious time on worshipping him, praising him, listening to the Word of God, rather than doing your private affairs. Because it is the most important thing, and the most valuable time for you to praise him and to receive grace from the Lord, you make every effort to this time. That’s how you enjoy the relationship with your Creator, and that’s how you glorify him above all things. And by that, you can enter the rest of God. Therefore, the last verb is ‘shabath’, which means ‘to stop’.

There is one more thing that we need to consider about. That is your life style during the 6 days. It’s about the way you live on the 6 days. Let’s turn your Bible to Ex. 31:15, “For six days, work is to be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of rest, holy to the LORD. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day must be put to death.” When God commanded us to keep the Sabbath, he didn’t just tell us to observe the 7^th day. He also told us how to live the other 6 days. He commanded us to keep the other 6 days as well. It is also important for God to keep those 6 days as it is important to keep the 7^th day. Because, in order to keep the 7^th day, all his work should be done until the 6^th day. He said, no, he commanded, “for six days, work is to be done!”

It shows how hard and diligently God had worked for 6 days. At the same time, it shows how industriously and diligently we should also work for 6 days. Unless you work hard, so you don’t finish and stop from all your work, you cannot rest. Unless you work hard and diligently for 6 days, you cannot enjoy the blessings, comfort, and rest coming from the relationship with God. Because that’s how he made you, and that’s the only way you can enjoy his rest.

So, do you now understand the true meaning of keeping the Sabbath? You have to understand God’s intention for asking that. God wants a deeper and closer relationship with each of you, not only on Sunday but also on the other 6 days. God wants you to enter his rest not only on Sunday but also on the other 6 days. You are not just entering his rest on Sunday, and coming out of it on Monday again, it’s not like that. God is the one who wants to give you an eternal and true rest through his Son, Jesus. Hebrews ch.4 is talking about entering God’s rest. And at the end of it, it introduces Jesus who is our great high priest.

V.14, “Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are--yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” Yes, we can enter God’s rest with confidence because we have Jesus. He is our comfort who understands us, the one who lets us enter God’s rest, and the one who helps us in time of need.

And the reason why we Christians keep Sunday not Saturday as a Sabbath is because we celebrate the finishing work of God the Son of our redemption. The finishing work of creation of God is very important. But the finishing work of Jesus for our salvation is also very important or I can say, more important. Because his work on the cross and his victory from death enabled us to enter and enjoy the Father’s rest. Jesus rose again on the 1^st day, which is Sunday today, so he completed the Father’s will. So there’s still a hope for those who hasn’t entered his rest. “There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God” (Hebrews 8:9) This is the Word of God our Creator given to you.

(Conclusion)

We all need true rest in this world. We’ve come too far to find the rest, but we couldn’t. However, the Word of God tells us about the rest coming from God. And we know that we can enter the rest only through Jesus his Son. Matthew 12:8 says, “For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath." Now can you say the reasons why Jesus is the Lord of the Sabbath? Yes. Only through Jesus the Son of God can you enter God’s rest. And it is his eager desire and expectation for you to enjoy the intimate relationship with each of you. So, dear brethren, hear the voice of Holy Spirit. "Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion, during the time of testing in the desert, where your fathers tested and tried me and for forty years saw what I did.” (Heb. 3:7-9) But, “Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall by following their example of disobedience.” (Heb. 4:11)

<Still>

(verse 1)

Hide me now under your wings

Cover me within your mighty hands

(chorus)

When the oceans rise and thunders roar

I will soar with you above the storms

Father you are king over the floods

I will be still and know you are God

(verse 2)

Find rest my soul in Christ alone

Know his pow’r in quietness and trust

12/01/15

<Comfort, comfort my people>

Isaiah 40:1-11

1 Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. 2 Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her hard service has been completed, that her sin has been paid for, that she has received from the LORD's hand double for all her sins. 3 A voice of one calling: "In the desert prepare the way for the LORD; make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God. 4 Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain. 5 And the glory of the LORD will be revealed, and all mankind together will see it. For the mouth of the LORD has spoken." 6 A voice says, "Cry out." And I said, "What shall I cry?" "All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field. 7 The grass withers and the flowers fall, because the breath of the LORD blows on them. Surely the people are grass. 8 The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands forever." 9 You who bring good tidings to Zion, go up on a high mountain. You who bring good tidings to Jerusalem, lift up your voice with a shout, lift it up, do not be afraid; say to the towns of Judah, "Here is your God!" 10 See, the Sovereign LORD comes with power, and his arm rules for him. See, his reward is with him, and his recompense accompanies him. 11 He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young.

A verse to memorize

“The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of God stands forever.” (Isaiah 40:8)

(Introduction)

           Welcome to EWS, the 3rd worship service of the New Year. It is always an unspeakable and trembling privilege for me to preach to you. Before I begin today’s message, let me ask you a crucial question for your life. What is your comfort in life and in death? What is your hope for the life? We have lots of things and people that give us comfort and satisfaction such as family, home, girl friend or boy friend, your career, your bank account, sometimes food, to those who do not know God, self-satisfaction, self-righteousness, drinks, drugs, or their fist could be their comfort, but then, let us go deeper than that. Let me change my question. What is your only comfort in life and in death?

           Every human being lives for a certain purpose. And all our lives are driven by various comforts and satisfactions. Why? The world we’re living in is depraved and fallen, corrupted world that needs to be recovered. We need comfort in order to live in such world, and we try to find it so eagerly. If you have a comfort for your life, then you have a hope for the life. But there are many people in the world who couldn’t find true comfort and satisfaction, wandering, searching for a false comfort. Beloved, you are God’s blessed people who already met a true comforter. Today, I want to introduce you the only true Comforter in our life. Let’s get back to the Scriptures.

(Body)

Isaiah ch.40 is called as the 2nd book of Isaiah because it shows the beginning of hope to the people of Israel. From ch.1 to ch.39, it deals with God’s judgment and punishment on His people, and from ch.40 it deals with God’s redemption and salvation to His people through His anointed suffering servant. And especially, today’s text, ch.40 v.1 to v.11 is divided into 4 parts again. V.1 to v.2: God’s word of giving comfort, v.3 to v.5: the way of God’s comfort, v.6 to v.8: the contents of His comfort, and as the last part, v.9 to v. 11 describes God’s character as the Comforter. Let’s look carefully each part, and listen to the Word of God speaking to us today!

1.   God is the Comforter who speaks to us. (1-2)

V.1 says, “Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.” "says your God" describes 'the God who says' or 'the God who speaks'. God is the one who speaks to us. God reveals us His will by giving words, and the Word of God is God's medium and a mean of communication with His people. God comforts us with His Words. Hosea 2:14 says, "Therefore I am now going to allure her; I will lead her into the desert and speak tenderly to her." God speaks to us so tenderly with His soft Words. His Word is perfect enough to comfort us.

Not only that he comforts us but also He wants us to comfort others. He encourages us to participate in His ministry by comforting His people. V.2, "Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her hard service has been completed, that her sin has been paid for, that she has received from the LORD’s hand double for all her sins." Once you have received the comfort from the Lord, if your sins were forgiven and you received double from the Lord's hand, you have to speak and proclaim the blessing and the gospel to the world, because they need true comfort, and you were called for that reason, in order that the world may know God's comfort!

2. The way of God’s comfort (3-5)

And from v.3-5 deals with the manner and the way of God's comfort. "A voice of one calling: "In the desert prepare the way for the LORD; make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God. Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain. And the glory of the LORD will be revealed, and all mankind together will see it. For the mouth of the LORD has spoken."" Here, God is calling prophet Isaiah to lift up his voice to prepare the way of the Lord. This proclamation is fulfilled by John the Baptist at Mark 1:3, Luke 3:4. John is introducing himself as a voice of one calling in the desert and as the one who prepares the way of the Lord. He was before Jesus to prepare the way of Jesus. All these words prophesied by the prophet Isaiah and John the Baptist were fulfilled by Jesus our Comforter.

Jesus is the one who humbles the haughty and lifts up the humble, so that no one will boast in himself. According to 2 Samuel 22:26-28, "To the faithful you show yourself faithful, to the blameless you show yourself blameless, to the pure you show yourself pure, but to the crooked you show yourself shrewd. You save the humble, but your eyes are on the haughty to bring them low." To anyone, both the haughty and the humble, Jesus is the Savior and the comforter.

And at v.5, "And the glory of the LORD will be revealed, and all mankind together will see it. For the mouth of the LORD has spoken." what is that mean? What is the glory of the Lord? John 1:14, "The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth." Again, Jesus is the glory of God! He is the glory of the One and Only Father! While we were yet sinners and slavers of devil, Jesus himself paid for all our sins, so that we could be called the children of God! We had neither hope nor comfort in our life, but he became our hope and comfort! He is the manner and the way of God's consolation.

Also in Luke 2:25, "Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord`s Christ." Only through Jesus Christ, we can receive the consolation of God because Jesus is the only and true Comfort of God. There's no one else and nothing that can save us from the misery of sins.

3. The contents of God’s comfort (6-8)

Verse 6-8, "A voice says, "Cry out." And I said, "What shall I cry?" He's asking the contents of God's comfort. "All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field. The grass withers and the flowers fall, because the breath of the LORD blows on them. Surely the people are grass. The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands forever." Anything can change, human will and emotion, and your heart, your plan and even your physical body will also change, and all glory and beauty of man will be destroyed. However, God's Word is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. Even if everything on earth moves and changes, the word of God's promise does not move. That's why he comes to us through Words, and that's the reason why we have to seek to hear the Word of God. Desire it! Be passionate to listen to the Word of God! Pay attention to the Word of God spoken through His servants, and spend your precious and quiet time on reading the Bible and on its meditation.

Remember, God's Word is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. (Hebrews 4:12). The Word of God is perfect and flawless, and faithful enough to comfort us! This is the essential contents of God's consolation for us. You should depend on neither any mortal men nor horses which will perish, but depend only on the Word of God which never moves, for it is faithful and trustworthy! How vivid it is! God’s description of images is crystal clear, grass and flowers of the field, and the Word of God. God is explaining his message by comparison of each image, so you have to see it! Is it clear now? All our glory and beauty will be destroyed and fade away, but the Word of God will stand forever!

4. God is both mighty to comfort and compassionate to care for us (9-11)

Let's move to v.9-11. "You, who bring good tidings to Zion, go up on a high mountain. You, who bring good tidings to Jerusalem, lift up your voice with a shout, lift it up, do not be afraid; say to the towns of Judah, "Here is your God!" See, the Sovereign LORD comes with power, and his arm rules for him. See, his reward is with him, and his recompense accompanies him. He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young." He's calling us 'You who bring good tidings to Zion, You who bring good tidings to Jerusalem'. Everyone who has heard this good news now becomes the messenger of this good news, who brings God's comfort to God's people. So, he's encouraging and inviting us to speak God's comfort and consolation tenderly, and it’s a way to participate in God's ministry. We shouldn’t be afraid to lift up our voices and say “Here is your God!”

Then, who is ‘your God’? Isaiah 51:15 says, “For I am the LORD your God, who churns up the sea so that its waves roar-- the LORD Almighty is his name. “ He is the Sovereign LORD who is mighty to save. He comes with power, and He rules with his strong arm. This mighty and powerful God is a kind and merciful Shepherd to us. He who is mighty is our compassionate Father at the same time. The attributes of the lion and the lamb are united in his character. There are many gods which are powerful, fearful, and awful in the world, but these gods don’t care for their people. However, our Father God is eager to care for us as well as mighty enough to save us from all the power of devil. His arms are wide-spread both to save his people and to gather and carry his lambs. Like a Good Shepherd, Jesus came to us to care for us. Hebrews 4:15 says, “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are--yet was without sin.” He suffered everything for us, so He who understands us can also comfort us. This is our God who is our Comforter. You have to show Him to the world. “Here is your God!”

(Conclusion)

For the conclusion, let me introduce one of our confessions of faith, ‘The Heidelberg Catechism’. Like ‘the Apostle's creed', this is respected as a full set of what we believe. The first question of the catechism deals with the core essence of our faith. We'll cover this deeper later after the service during Bible study. Let me read the Q1/A1 for you.

Q1. What is your only comfort in life and in death?

A.    That I, with body and soul, both in life and death, am not my own, but belong unto my faithful Savior Jesus Christ; who with His precious blood has fully satisfied for all my sins, and delivered me from all the power of the devil; and so preserves me that without the will of my heavenly Father not a hair can fall from my head; yea, that all things must be subservient to my salvation, wherefore by His Holy Spirit He also assures me of eternal life, and makes me heartily willing and ready, henceforth, to live unto Him.

Jesus is our Lord, who is our only comfort in life and in death. Therefore Beloved, let us put our hope only in Him!