All right, brethren, Isaiah 49. Greg, will you give me some water?
Sorry, I meant to get it during break. Isaiah 49. Have you ever felt like this
right here, brethren, in verse 4? That I said, I've labored
in vain. I've spent my strength for nothing
and in vain. Have you ever felt like that? As a preacher of the gospel,
I feel like that sometimes. And if I'm just being, maybe
I'm oversharing, but I kind of feel like that way this morning.
And I shouldn't because I just prepared
this message. I know what I'm about to preach.
But you get this way, and we do get this way, thank you. But
I want you to see what the Lord is saying here, and I think it
will be a blessing to us. Now, throughout the prophecy,
the Lord promised that in the last days, He would return His
elect in Israel to Him. Now, most people hear that and
they read the prophecy and they say the last days and they think
of at the very end of these days that the Lord's gonna come to
Israel and restore Israel. Well, the last days began when
the Son of God came and took flesh. Hebrews 1, 2 says, God
hath in these last days spoken to us by his Son. That's when
the last days started. And just like He promised, the
Lord began with His elect in Israel. That's what the prophecy
is talking about. It's not the last days in the
future. He started with Israel when He
came in the flesh. He said, I'm not sent but to
the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And He called out His
apostles from among Israel, and He called out His elect from
among Israel, from among the nation, from among Jacob. As
for the rest in Israel who rejected Him, Christ said this, here was
wisdom, here's righteousness, and they rejected Christ in person
for their own so-called wisdom and their own so-called works
of righteousness. We shouldn't be discouraged and
cast down if somebody rejects us. Christ stood in person. He is wisdom. He is the power. He is righteousness. And men
rejected him for their own so-called wisdom and so-called power and
so-called righteousness. And this is what he said to them
back there in Isaiah 48, 18. We saw this last time. He said,
oh, that thou had hearkened to my commandments. Then had thy
peace been as a river and thy righteousness as the waves of
the sea, thy seed also had been as the sand. He said at the end,
his name should not have been cut off nor destroyed from before
me. He stood there and looked at
Jerusalem and he said, Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest
the prophets, I send my preachers to you and you kill them. You
stone them which are sent to thee. How often would I have
gathered thee as our children together as a hen gathers her
chickens under her wings, and you would not. Behold, your house
is left unto you desolate. And he said, I say to you, you
shall not see me henceforth from here forward till you shall say,
blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord. That's
not a good thing. He wasn't saying that in a positive
way. Those that rejected him won't
see him again till he comes a second time in all his glory. And when
he comes that second time, he's coming like they thought he was
coming the first time. But He's coming to judge them.
And they're going to bow their knee and they're going to confess
He is who He said He was. Blessed is He. He's the King
of kings and Lord of lords. Don't reject Christ. Do not reject
Christ. Better to bow the knee to Him
now in grace and find mercy than to have to see Him in judgment
and bow and be cast out forever. Bow to Him today. Bow to Him
today. So, as He promised, He said,
your house is left desolate. Seventy years later, our risen
King Jesus sent Rome and He left Israel desolate. He fulfilled
Daniel's prophecy. He caused the sacrifice and oblation
to cease in Israel. He made the overspreading of
abominations to cease. But our Savior promised something
else through the prophets. Back in Isaiah 2, In verse 2,
he said, it shall come to pass in the last days that the mountain
of the Lord's house shall be established in the top of the
mountains and shall be exalted above the hills. Christ arose. He arose and sat down in heavenly
Mount Zion, in heavenly Jerusalem, above all earthly mountains.
And he sent forth the gospel. And this is what he promised.
He said, at all nations, shall flow unto it, all nations. All
nations, not just Israel, all nations. So this is Christ's
word now. Here He is now. Hear Him today.
He's in Mount Zion. He's in the throne of glory now. He's on His throne in glory.
And He's sending this gospel forth like He promised He would.
And here's His message to us. Here's His message to you and
me. Will we be like Israel? Will we refuse Him? Are we going
to hear Him? Here's what He says in Isaiah
49. Listen, O Israel. Listen, O Gentiles
unto Me. Hearken, ye people from far.
The Lord hath called me from the womb. From the bowels of
my mother hath he made mention of my name. He made my mouth
like a sharp sword. In the shadow of his hand hath
he hid me and made me a polished shaft. In his quiver hath he
hid me and said to me. Now here's Christ declaring what
the Father said to him. He said, Thou art my servant,
O Israel, in whom I will be glorified. Then I said, Christ speaking
here, I said, I've labored in vain. I've spent my strength
for naught in vain." The majority in Israel had rejected him. He
said, I've labored in vain. I've spent my strength for nothing and in vain. Yet, surely my judgment
is with the Lord. and my work with my God. And
now saith the Lord that formed me from the womb to be his servant,
to bring Jacob again to him, though Israel be not gathered.
Now catch this, though Israel be not gathered, Yet shall I
be glorious in the eyes of the Lord, and my God shall be my
strength. And he said, it is a light thing
that thou should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob
and to restore the preserve of Israel. Now catch this, I will
also give thee for a light of the Gentiles that thou mayest
be my salvation to the ends of the earth. That's God the Father's
promise to Christ our King. That's what he promised Christ
our King. And this promise was decreed and resolved on by God
the Father in eternity. And it was made with the Lord
Jesus Christ. Declared by God the Father to
Christ. Now turn with me, hold your place
here, and turn with me to Acts 13. Acts 13. Now the Lord said, The Father told Christ, He said,
I will give thee for a light to the Gentiles that thou mayest
be my salvation to the end of the earth. And lo and behold, our risen Lord Jesus sent Paul
and he sent Barnabas preaching the gospel to Antioch. And what
do you know? There were some Gentiles there
that asked Paul and Barnabas to come back and preach to them
the following week. They heard them preach and they
said, will you come back and preach to us again next week?
Verse 45, but when the Jews saw the multitudes, they were filled
with envy and they spake And they spoke against those things
which were spoken by Paul. They spoke against the gospel
of Christ, contradicting and blaspheming. And then Paul and
Barnabas waxed bold and said, it was necessary that the word
of God should first have been spoken to you. That's what I
just said. He came to Israel first. It was
necessary, Paul said, that this gospel be preached to you first. But seeing you put it from you,
and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn
to the Gentiles. For so, now watch this now, so
hath the Lord, so hath the Lord Jesus commanded us. saying, I
have set thee to be a light to the Gentiles, that thou shouldest
be for salvation to the ends of the earth. That's our text,
isn't it? Paul said, the Lord Jesus commanded
us, saying, I have set thee to be a light to the Gentiles, that
thou shouldest be for salvation to the ends of the earth. And
when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad. and they glorified
the word of the Lord. And as many as were ordained
to eternal life believed." Notice in our text, now look there in
Acts 13 and then look back in Isaiah 49, God the Father made
that promise to Christ our Lord in Isaiah 49. In Isaiah 49, the
Father said, I will also, verse 6, I will also give thee for
a light to the Gentiles that thou must be my salvation to
the end of the earth. That's what the Father told Christ.
But in Acts 13.45, Paul said, this was Christ's
promise to us. This is His promise to His ministers,
and it's His promise to you who are His witnesses that He's called.
He said, so that the Lord commanded us, said, I have set thee to
be a light of the Gentiles, that thou shouldest be for salvation
to the ends of the earth. This promise from God the Father
to Christ is Christ's promise to His ministers, and to you
who's made His witnesses, the church. What His ministers and
His church does, Christ does. And what Christ does, the Father
does. The Father sends Christ, and
Christ sends His ministers, He sends you and me, His church,
preaching this word, and by His ministers, Christ comes through
the gospel, preaching peace. Remember, Ephesians 2.17, Christ
came and preached peace to you which were far off and to them
that were not. He came near to the children
of Israel, came to them first. And then how does our text begin?
He says, hearken ye, you children from afar. Christ came to the
Israel and preached peace through his ministers and he came to
us Gentiles who were far off through the gospel preaching
peace. But see, That means Christ is the light to enlighten the
Gentiles. That's what God the Father said
of Him. You're my light to enlighten the Gentiles. And you know what
Christ said of us? You're the light of the world.
He says to us what the Father said of Him. You're the light
of the world. And the light of the world you have, the light
you have is Christ the light, the gospel of Christ the light.
That's the light we're shining. It's not us doing something to
shine our light and to make people look at us as the world vainly
preaches. It's Christ the light. That's
who we're preaching. That's who we're glorifying.
That's who we want the world to behold, not us. He's making
you light, and it's Him that's the light, and it's through His
witnesses that Christ is the light. So here's the point, and
here's what I'm trying to say, and I'm just going to be brief
in my points, but I want you to see this. I'm trying to set
this up for you. Here's the point. Everything
God the Father said to Christ in Isaiah 49, Christ says to
us. Everything He said to Christ,
Christ said to us. And everything that's true of
Christ in Isaiah 49 is true of us. This is the oneness that
we have with God our Father in Christ and He with us in Christ. This is the comfort wherewith
Christ is comforted. This word the Father gave to
him is how the Father comforted Christ as his servant, and this
word is how Christ comforts us as his servants. That's my subject,
the comfort of Christ. It's the comfort of Christ from
God the Father, and it's the comfort of Christ from Christ
to you and me. Now let's look at it very briefly
here. Here's the first thing. Our Savior
knows exactly what we feel when we are discouraged. He knows
it. Look here. We become cast down when we're
despised, when we're rejected. Verse four, then I said, I've
labored in vain. I've spent my strength for naught
and in vain. I've said that, and I've thought
that. I've thought that today, quite
honestly. You know why? I was thinking
of this when we were sitting there singing. I studied this
this week, studied it all this morning. yesterday and this morning
and was so encouraged by it and was so uplifted by it in my heart. And then what I could see with
these carnal eyes made me discouraged. But you know what? What I could
see with these carnal eyes don't change that word at all. It don't
affect that word at all. All it did was cast me down. You see, the things we see are
temporary, they're perishing, but the things that are not seen
are eternal. Faith is the substance of things
hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. You know why that is?
Because faith trusts in Christ to do it all. And He shall not
fail. And it's the evidence of things
not seen, the things that are eternal. We only see eternal
things by faith. So this carnal eye, don't look
with the carnal eye. It don't change God's promise.
All it does is cast you down. That's all it does. I've labored
in vain. I've spent my strength for nothing
and in vain. But you know what? Here's the
good news. Christ said that first. He said
that first. That's who's speaking in Isaiah
49. What does that show us? It shows us that the Son of God,
God Himself, really and truly became a man, like His brethren,
just like you and me. He really and truly dwelt in
our flesh and was touched with every feeling you're touched
with. It says, We have not a high priest which cannot be touched
with the feeling of our infirmities, but was in all points tried like
as we are, yet without sin. Brethren, Christ dwelt in a body
just like us. He knew no sin, but all the effects
that sin causes me and you to experience, He was touched with
all those, all the weaknesses. And He was tried in every way
a man could be tried. And He conquered every enemy
for His people. And He's gonna make you and me
more than conquerors through Him that loved us. So that's
the first thing. When we're discouraged and we're
cast down, The good news is we have a high priest in glory,
God all-knowing, all-powerful, and he's a man, and he's been
right where you are and knows exactly what you're going through,
and he's touched with what you're feeling right now. Now secondly,
this was Christ's perfect faith as our representative. And so
this is the faith he's going to give us. This is his faith
in us that's abstaining us and upholding us. This is how he
strengthens us as his witnesses. This is what he makes you know,
verse 4. This was his faith. He said, yet surely my judgment
is with the Lord and my work with my God. You remember what the Apostle
Paul said, because he had Christ within him. You know, men will
go around boasting how they can mortify their flesh, and they
can put on the armor, and they can do this and that for God,
and all the things they can do. Listen to what Paul said. He said, I'm crucified with Christ,
nevertheless I live. He said, but not I. Well, Paul, you do it though,
don't you? You do all the things. He said,
not I. He said, the life I now live,
I live by Christ being in me. It's by His faithfulness. It's
by Him sustaining me and strengthening me and mortifying my flesh and
giving my faith some strength to look to Him instead of myself. It's Him lifting me out of this
mud and this mire and this dung heap to look above all this to
Him and know He's reigning and ruling and so I'll reign and
rule with Him. I don't live, Christ lives in
me. Well, you may get out to be that a man's a puppet. If
you ever find out what it is to be Christ's puppet, isn't
that a wonderful thing? Just like your hand is in a puppet,
Christ is in his people, and we move and live and do what
we do by Christ alone. And this is the faith of Christ
and this is the faith He puts in our hearts. This was the faith
He had and this is the faith He puts in us. Our little weak
faith, our little tiny weak faith, Christ gives this to His witnesses. He gives the same heart Christ
Himself had. When He was serving the Father
to redeem His people, He looked to the Father and He said, surely
by judgment is with the Lord. And my reward is with my God. Whatever He gives me, my judgment,
what He does for me, how He works things out for me, I'll trust
Him. And my reward, whatever He gives
me, it's all going to be of Him. Peter said, What glory is it
if when you be buffeted for your faults you shall take it patiently?
But if when you do well and suffer you take it patiently, that's
acceptable with God. Even here too were you called,
because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example
that we should follow in his steps. Who did no sin, neither
was God found in his mouth." You and me can't say that. We'll
never be able to say that. He did no sin and no God was
in his mouth, yet he was despised and rejected and buffeted. Don't
you think we will be? Sure we will be. But what did
he do? When he was reviled, he reviled not again. When he suffered,
he threatened not, but committed it to him that judgeth righteously. That's what he said in our text.
My judgment is with the Lord. My judgment is with the Lord.
Paul was despised and rejected. I want you to look at this in
1 Corinthians 4. He was despised and he was rejected.
Men were saying all manner of evil against him, and these were
brethren at Corinth that were doing this, some of them. But look at what he said here.
1 Corinthians 4.1, he said, Let a man so account, so impute of
us as of the ministers of Christ and stewards of the mysteries
of God. Moreover, it is required in stewards that a man be found
faithful. And I can hear, and he knew it
too, he knew that the Corinthians who were speaking evil of him,
he knew when he made that statement, in their hearts, if not in their
tongue, they was going to be saying, yeah, but Paul's not
faithful. And here was his answer to that.
This is the Spirit of God answering that. He said, but me, it's a
very small thing that I should be judged of you or of any man's
judgment. Yea, I judge not mine own self,
for I know nothing by myself. Yet am I not hereby justified?
But he that judges me is the Lord. You know what Paul's saying?
My judgment's with the Lord. I'm trusting him to do what's
right for me and with me and in me. My judgment's with the
Lord. Therefore, judge nothing before the time till the Lord
come. who both will bring to light
the hidden things of darkness, will make manifest the counsel
of the hearts, and then shall every elect, chosen, redeemed
child of God have praise of God. Every one of us will. Child of
God, when you cast down, commit it to Christ. Commit the whole
thing to Christ. Surely my judgment is with my
Lord, and my work with my God. Here's the third thing. Our Savior's
confidence was in God the Father, and He gives us the same confidence
in Christ. His confidence, Christ's confidence,
was the Father, and He gives me new confidence in Christ.
Look here, this was true of Christ, it's true of you and me who He's
called to preach His gospel. In verse 1, He said, The Lord
hath called me from the womb. From the bowels of my mother,
he made mention of my name. That was true of Christ. That
was true of you in Christ. That's true of you. The Lord
has known you from your mother's womb. From eternity, from your
mother's womb. Jeremiah, he called him to preach.
He said, before I formed you in the belly, I knew you and
I sanctified you. I ordained you to be my preacher.
Verse 2. And he hath made, Christ said,
he made my mouth like a sharp sword, and in the shadow of his
hand hath he hit me, and he made me a polished shaft, and in his
quiver hath he hit me. Remember the psalm that says
children of the Lord are like arrows in a quiver? Christ said,
I'm an arrow in his quiver. I'm an arrow in the quiver of
my Father. He said, I'm in his hand. He's hit me in his hand.
And he said, and he's made my mouth like a sharp sword. The
gospel going forth out of his mouth is cutting to the thoughts
and intents of every man's heart. Well brethren, what's so of Christ
is so of you in whom he dwells and who he's made his witnesses.
You're in his hand, he's got you covered, he's using you to
speak this word of this gospel, and it's his power through the
word we speak that's going to cut to the heart and accomplish
the work. Verse 3, and he said to me, Thou
art my servant, O Israel, in whom I will be glorified. That's
the Father's word to Christ, and that's Christ's word to you
and me who He's called. We're Israel in Christ our Israel. And just like the Father's told
Him, You're my servant, O Israel, in whom I will be glorified. And Christ says to you, You're
my servant in whom I will be glorified. In Christ God has
and shall be glorified. He has glorified Himself and
He shall glorify Himself in Christ. And you in whom Christ dwells,
you're one with Christ, and in Christ and by Christ, His name
is going to be glorified in you. You think He's leaving that up
to me and you? If He said, My name is going
to be glorified in you, if He left it to you, it wouldn't be
any glory to His name. The glory would be to you and
me, wouldn't it? So what He's doing to glorify His name in
me and you, He's gonna do it all. That's how He's getting
the glory to His name. That's why Christ came, that's
why He died, that's what He accomplished at the cross. In Christ, God
was glorified. He said when He was gone out,
Jesus said, now is the Son of Man glorified. And God's glorified
in Him. And if God be glorified in, what
did he say? He said, if God be glorified
in him, God also shall glorify him in himself, and shall straightway
glorify him. And that's what Christ is saying
to us. If Christ's gonna be glorified in you, then Christ will also
glorify him in, I don't know what. Let me say it again. If
God be glorified in him, If Christ glorifies himself in you, God
shall also glorify him in himself. God's going to also glorify you
in him. That's what he's saying. And the Lord spake and he lifted
up his voice and he said, Father, the hours come, glorify thy son,
that thy son also may glorify thee. That's what this whole
thing of salvation is about. God being glorified in his son.
And so this whole thing of Him calling you and using you and
me to preach this word and calling out other sinners, it's not for
us to be glorified, it's for Christ to be glorified. And the
only way we're glorified is in Him. And we give all the glory
to Him. He said, you've given me power
over all flesh. Christ glorified the Father.
You gave me power over all flesh that I should give eternal life
to as many as you've given to me. And He said, And this is
life eternal, that they may know Thee, the only true God, and
Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent. He said, I have glorified
Thee on the earth. I have finished the work You
gave Me to do. God is glorified in Christ. The
Lord Jesus Christ, by His obedience unto the death of the cross,
He glorified God. He showed how God is righteous.
and how everything he does is righteous, how he's just and
the justifier. He glorified God's long-suffering,
he glorified his mercy, he glorified his love, he glorified his grace,
he glorified his kindness, everything at the cross, and he glorified
his justice. How perfectly righteous God is.
And He finished the work. He justified all His people and
put away our sin. And so, by calling you and me
out of darkness into His light, who did Christ glorify? He glorified
the Father. He glorified His own name by
calling us. And this is so concerning you.
Christ says to you and me, you're my servant, O Israel, in whom
I will be glorified. Just like Christ was the servant
of the Father, and the Father glorified himself in Christ,
you're Christ's servant, and he's gonna glorify himself in
you. Sinners oppose us. Sinners reject the gospel of
Christ. But you know what Christ is going to do? He's going to
strengthen you in faith and keep you trusting Him. And this is
the good news. This is what we're able to say.
Verse 4, Surely my judgment is with the Lord, and my work is
with my God. And now saith the Lord that formed
me from the womb to be His servant, to bring Jacob again to Him,
though his will be not glorified. Yet shall I be glorious in the
eyes of the Lord, and my God shall be my strength. That's
what Christ said, and that's what He's going to make you and
me say and keep us saying. Thus shall I be glorious in the
eyes of the Lord, and my God shall be my strength. How can
you and me be glorious in the eyes of the Lord? Perfect in Christ's perfection. Perfectly righteous in His righteousness.
Perfectly holy in His holiness. As He is, so are you in this
world. Complete in Him. He said, you're glorious in my
eyes. And this is what you're gonna
say, my God shall be my strength. That's what God's people say.
That's not what the world says. The world brags about their strength.
God's people say, God is my strength. Christ is my strength. Christ
strengthens us in faith to make us leave our judgment with our
Redeemer. I don't know what God's going
to do. I don't know what He's going to do today. I don't know
what He's going to do tomorrow. I don't know what He's going
to do with me. I don't know what He's going
to do with you. I don't know what He's going to do with this congregation. My judgment's with
Him. It's with Him. And my reward's
with Him. Whatever He's pleased to do,
whatever He's pleased to give me, you, and all His people.
It'll be right. It'll be good. It'll be just.
It'll be just as it should be. And though it may appear our
labor's in vain, he said, I've labored in vain. He said, I've
spent my strength for nothing. We know this. His word never
returns void. So we can say this, he said,
my word that goes forth out of my mouth, it shall not return
to me void, but it shall accomplish the thing which I please, it
shall prosper in the thing where to I send it. That's what we
say, my judgments with the Lord. I don't know what he's doing
with his word, but it's his word, I know it's true, I double check
it, triple check it. I'm not gonna say it from here,
if it's not in this book right here. But I know this, it's not
returning to Him void. It's accomplishing His purpose.
It's damning some and saving others, and it never will fail. And Christ trusted the Father
as He trusted the Father. He keeps me and you trusting
Him. This is what we say. This is what Christ said. This
was His faith as the servant of God, trusting the Father.
This is our faith, trusting the Father. He said, all that the
Father giveth me shall come to me. And all that cometh to me
I will in no wise cast out, for I came down from heaven not to
do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. You and
me can say that. We don't know who, you know,
this has happened before. I remember one time down in Arkansas,
one day the congregation had 15 people, the next day about
60 people showed up. Out of the blue. We don't know, but we know this,
whoever that truly is drawn and truly comes and comes in saving
faith, it's because the Father gave them and the Father drew
them. And Christ said, all the Father giveth me, they shall
come to me. And that's our judgment with
the Lord. We leave it with Him. If your enemies be of your own
household, and they may be, don't ever get to the point where you
think your enemies won't be of your own household. They can
be in a heartbeat. Just like that. If you despise
and you reject it like Christ was, you commit yourself to Him
who judges righteously. Committed all to Him. Just committed
all to Him. He said, my judgment is with
the Lord and my work with my God. Committed all to Him. God
promised, He said, thou art my servant, O Israel, in whom I
will be glorified. That's what He says to you and
me who He's called. You're my servant, O Israel,
in whom I will be glorified. He said, He said, I shall be
glorified and glorious in the eyes of the Lord, or my God shall
be my strength. That's what he makes you to know,
and that's what you can say. You're going to be glorious in
the eyes of the Lord, and he's going to be your strength. And
here's the good news. God said, Christ shall not fail.
And since He shall not fail, we shall not fail. You're gonna
accomplish His purpose. Whatever His purpose is for you,
you're gonna accomplish it. And when you're done accomplishing
that purpose, He's gonna take you to glory. And that's so of
me, and that's so of all these people. And because He shall
not fail, we shall not fail. Now, I'm just going to read the
rest, but this is what the Father promised Christ who was despised
and rejected, and this is what Christ is working right now through
His Gospel, and this is what He promises each of us who He's
called to preach His Gospel. Look here now, verse 7. Thus
saith the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel, and His Holy One,
He's saying this, to Him whom man despiseth, to Him whom the
nation abhors. If Christ was despised, He was
abhorred, And if you're going to serve Him and preach Christ,
you're going to be to some degree or another. But this is His Word
to us. He said, You're a servant of
rulers, but He said, Kings shall see and arise, and princes also
shall worship because of the Lord that's faithful and the
Holy One of Israel, and He shall choose thee. Thus saith the Lord
in acceptable time, I've heard thee. And He's going to hear
you. In a day of salvation I've helped thee, and He'll help me
in you. And I'll preserve thee, and I'll
give thee for a covenant of the people to establish the earth
to cause to inherit the desolate heritages. You say, well, that
truly can't be said of me. Not of yourself, but it can be
said of you because of what Christ is working through His church.
Christ is the covenant of His people and we're the salt of
this earth because Christ, the only reason He's preserving it
is His church is preaching His word through which He's calling
out His people. In that sense, He's given us
for a covenant of the people to cause the desolated people,
His desolated to pray people, to inherit the eternal inheritance
through faith in Christ. that thou mayest say to the prisoners,
go forth. To them that are in darkness,
show yourselves. They shall feed in the ways." This is what's
true of me and you because of what he's done for us. He's going
to call out his people through this gospel and do it for them,
but this is what's true of us. As we preach the gospel, we're
going to partake of it, and this is what he's going to make you
do. They shall feed in the ways, their pasture shall be in all
high places. They shall not hunger nor thirst, neither shall the
heat or sun smite them. And he that hath mercy on them
shall lead them, even by the springs of water shall he guide
them. And I will make all my mountains
away, and my highways shall be exalted. And he said, and I'll
call my people from afar, and they'll all come. And he says,
now you sing, verse 13, you sing. He says to the angels in heaven,
sing, O heavens, be joyful. And he says to us on earth, pray
forkin' to sing in O mountains. For the Lord hath comforted his
people. He'll have mercy upon his afflicted.
That's his promise to us. But this is what we say. Zion
said, the Lord's forsaken me, my Lord's forgotten me. He said,
can a woman forget her suckling child that she should not have
compassion on the son of her womb? Yes, they might. Yet will I not forget thee? Behold,
I have engraven you on the palms of my hand, till your walls are
continually before me. Thy children shall make haste,
and thy destroyers, and they that made thee waste, they'll
leave you. They'll go forth to thee. I'll
make them leave you alone. Verse 23, the end. And thou shalt
know. that I am the Lord, for they
shall not be ashamed that wait on me." That's what the Lord
said, brethren. That was so of Christ, and that's
going to be so of you by Christ. Let's remember him at his table
now. Brother Bill, let's me and you pass out these elements.
Oh, Adam, you and Bill. I forgot you was in here.