I will call the attention of this congregation to a portion of the word of the Lord contained in the first five verses of the fourth chapter of the prophecies of Isaiah—
"Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God.
"Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned; for she hath received of the Lord's hand double for all her sins.
"The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a high way for our God.
"Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low; and the crooked shall, be made straight, and the rough places, plain:
"And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed; and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it."
These are the words of the inspired Prophet Isaiah, most of which remain to be fulfilled. The first two verses contain a prediction not yet fulfilled: '"Comfort ye my people, saith your God; speak comfortably to Jerusalem, cry unto her that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned, for she hath received of the Lord's hand double for all her sins."
Every person who is acquainted with the history of the inhabitants of Jerusalem very well knows that this prediction has never received a fulfulment. In consequence of the wickedness of that people, and the great transgressions that they committed in the sight of heaven in rejecting the Lord, their true Messiah, great and severe calamities and judgments came upon them, and have continued upon them and their posterity until this age of the world. In other words, all those curses which are pronounced in the Book of Deuteronomy upon the head of Israel have literally been fulfilled during the past eighteen hundred years. I have no need to enter into particulars with regard to that devoted race; but I will state, very briefly, some of the judgments that they have endured.
After the Prophet Isaiah had delivered this prophecy they suffered severely at the hands of the Babylonians; who, about six centuries before Christ, came against the Jews. and Jerusalem and destroyed many of their nation, and carried the remnant of them into captivity to Babylon, where they remained some seventy years. They then returned and rebuilt their city and temple, and were chastened at various times from that period until their Messiah came, in fulfilment of the prophecies and predictions of Isaiah concerning the first advent of the Redeemer. He came, as he, himself, expressed it, to his own, but his own received him not. They looked upon him as a base impostor, as a Sabbath-breaker, a gluttonous man and a wine-bibber. Instead of being a moral character, in their estimation, he was a friend of publicans and sinners, and associated with them instead of with those who professed to be religious. They persecuted, hated and reviled him; and finally succeeded, in fulfilment of prophecy, in crucifying him.
Jesus, before he was crucified, said unto the Jews, "I say unto you that the kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and shall be given to a people who shall bring forth the fruits thereof." As much as to say, "You once enjoyed the fruits of the kingdom; you once had in your midst inspired men, prophets, great and holy men who spoke as they were moved upon by the Holy Ghost; you once enjoyed all the blessings and gifts of the kingdom of God; in the days of your righteousness you enjoyed these fruits in abundance. But, alas! you have departed from the laws of that kingdom; you have forsaken the religion of your fathers; you have turned your hearts away, you have apostatized from the truth, and the fruits that were enjoyed by your fathers no longer exist among you. Your fathers were in possession of all the miraculous fruits and blessings and gifts of the kingdom. They could prophecy and see visions; they could hear the voice of the Lord speaking to them; they could enjoy the power and gift of the Holy Spirit; work miracles in the name of the Lord; heal the sick; cast out devils and perform all these miracles that are recorded in the Old Testament; and these were the fruits of that kingdom which you, the Jewish nation, once enjoyed; but because you have rejected your Messiah, rejected the testimony of the prophets concerning him; rejected the testimony given in the law of Moses, and those great types pointing to the Messiah, you, in turn, shall be rejected, the kingdom shall be taken from you, and it shall be given to a nation who shall bring forth the fruits thereof."