Scripture: Isaiah 40:1-11 ; 2 Cor 1:1-11
Text: Lord’s Day 1

Sermon: Comfort for God’s People by Rev George van Popta.

Read by Brother Herman de Jonge

Isaiah 40:1-11 New American Standard Bible (NASB)

The Greatness of God
40 “Comfort, O comfort My people,” says your God.
2 “Speak [a]kindly to Jerusalem;
And call out to her, that her [b]warfare has ended,
That her [c]iniquity has been removed,
That she has received of the Lord’s hand
Double for all her sins.”
3 A voice [d]is calling,
“Clear the way for the Lord in the wilderness;
Make smooth in the desert a highway for our God.
4 “Let every valley be lifted up,
And every mountain and hill be made low;
And let the rough ground become a plain,
And the rugged terrain a broad valley;
5 [e]Then the glory of the Lord will be revealed,
And all flesh will see it together;
For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”
6 A voice says, “Call out.”
Then [f]he answered, “What shall I call out?”
All flesh is grass, and all its [g]loveliness is like the flower of the field.
7 The grass withers, the flower fades,
[h]When the breath of the Lord blows upon it;
Surely the people are grass.
8 The grass withers, the flower fades,
But the word of our God stands forever.
9 Get yourself up on a high mountain,
O Zion, bearer of good news,
Lift up your voice mightily,
O Jerusalem, bearer of good news;
Lift it up, do not fear.
Say to the cities of Judah,
“Here is your God!”
10 Behold, the Lord [i]God will come with might,
With His arm ruling for Him.
Behold, His reward is with Him
And His recompense before Him.
11 Like a shepherd He will tend His flock,
In His arm He will gather the lambs
And carry them in His bosom;
He will gently lead the nursing ewes.

2 Corinthians 1:1-11New American Standard Bible (NASB)

Introduction
1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,

To the church of God which is at Corinth with all the [a]saints who are

throughout Achaia:

2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies

and God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our affliction so that we will

be able to comfort those who are in [b]any affliction with the comfort with

which we ourselves are comforted by God. 5 For just as the sufferings of Christ

are [c]ours in abundance, so also our comfort is abundant through Christ. 6 But

if we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; or if we are

comforted, it is for your comfort, which is effective in the patient enduring

of the same sufferings which we also suffer; 7 and our hope for you is firmly

grounded, knowing that as you are sharers of our sufferings, so also you are

sharers of our comfort.

8 For we do not want you to be unaware, brethren, of our affliction which came

to us in [d]Asia, that we were burdened excessively, beyond our strength, so

that we despaired even of life; 9 [e]indeed, we had the sentence of death

within ourselves so that we would not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises

the dead; 10 who delivered us from so great a peril of death, and will deliver

us, [f]He on whom we have set our hope. And He will yet deliver us, 11 you also

joining in helping us through your prayers, so that thanks may be given by many

persons on our behalf for the favor bestowed on us through the prayers of many.