THE GRACE OF GOD FOR THE SORROWING

ISAIAH 63:7

A. "IN ALL THEIR AFFLICTION HE WAS AFFLICTED, AND THE ANGEL OF HIS PRESENCE SAVED THEM; IN HIS LOVE AND PITY HE REDEEMED THEM; AND HE BARE THEM, AND CARRIED THEM ALL THE DAYS OF OLD"
  1. How blessed it is in life:
    1. To recognize God's loving kindness and care all the days of our earthly pilgrimage
    2. To be able to discover the goodness of the Lord even adversity strikes at us
  2. It is this knowledge and trust:
    1. That gives strength to bear the trials of life patiently
    2. That sees the silver lining even when the clouds of sorrow hide the sunlight from our vision B. THE GRACE OF GOD FOR THE SORROWING
  3. "In all their affliction he was afflicted"
    1. We all know that affliction is common unto men born of a woman - said Job, "Man that is born of a woman is of few days, and is full of trouble" - Job 14:1; and the Psalmist writes, "Many are the afflictions of the righteous; but the Lord delivereth him out of them all" - Ps. 34:19
    2. But we know further, that He who is spoken of as "a man of sorrow and acquainted with grief" - Is. 53:3 shares with us life's sorrows
    3. Of Him Paul writes, "For verily He took not on Him the nature of angels; but He took on Him the seed of Abraham. Wherefore in all things it behooved Him to be made like unto His brethren" - Heb. 2:16-17
  4. See and note well, dear friends, the attitude of our Saviour when sorrows strike the children of men:
    1. He holds a funeral procession and returns an only son to his widowed and sorrowing mother - Luke 7:11-15
    2. He weeps at the graveside of Lazarus his friend - John 11:35
    3. He brought back to life the son of the widow at Shunem - 2 Kings 4:8-36
    4. He gives comfort and assurance to the mothers who lose their children in death - Jer. 31:17-18 C. THE GRACE OF GOD FOR THE SORROWING
  5. Note the instructions from a loving and compassionate Saviour:
    1. "Comfort ye my people, saith your God. Speak ye comfortable to Jerusalem" - Is. 40:1-2
    2. "For the Lord shall comfort Zion; He will comfort all the waste places" - Is. 51:3
    3. "He hath sent me...to comfort all that mourn" - Is. 61:1-2
    4. "As one whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort you" - Is. 66:13
    5. Cried the prophet Zechariah, "The Lord shall yet comfort Zion" - Zech. 1:17
  6. There are moments in sorrow when we feel forsaken and desolate:
    1. Lamented the prophet Jeremiah, "When I would comfort myself I sorrow, my heart is faint in me" - Jer. 8:18
    2. And in Lamentation 1:17 we read, "Zion spreadeth forth her hands, and there is none to comfort her"
  7. But our blessed Saviour assures us: - that
    1. "The spirit of the Lord God is upon me because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek...to bind up the broken-hearted" - Is. 61:1
    2. That on that glorious resurrection morning God will wipe away all tears from the eyes of his children - Rev. 21:4
  8. It is the special mission of the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Godhead:
    1. To comfort God's people - for His very name is Comforter - John 15:26; 14:26
    2. He will comfort us by bringing to our mind the many precious promises of God to His people - Heb. 6:12; 2 Pet. 1:4
  9. Loved one, note prayerfully these assurances of God which will bring comfort to your sorrowing hearts in this hour of bereavement:
    1. "Thy dead men shall live together with my body shall they arise" - Is. 26:19
    2. "I will ransom them from the power of the grave, I will redeem them from death; O death, I will be thy plagues; O grave, I will be thy destruction" - Hosea 13:14
    3. Said Jesus to Martha, "I am the resurrection and the life" - John 11:25


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