The Gospel of Isaiah, I said
that right, is quoted more than any prophet in the New Testament,
over and over again. Our Lord Himself quoted Isaiah. He gave the Word to Isaiah, and
yet He quoted it. He honored His servant. Comfort
ye, verse 1, comfort ye My people, saith Dear God, this is to me. This is to those who preach.
Speak comfortably to Jerusalem, to the church. Speak comfortably.
Tell them. Cry unto them. Her warfare is
accomplished. Her iniquity, all of it, is pardoned,
forgiven, blotted out. She's received of the Lord's
hand double for all her sins. Comfort. The gospel is a message
of comfort. Who for? Those who have iniquity. Those who have sinned. Those
who are guilty. Pardon doesn't mean anything
to a righteous person, does it? Christ said, I didn't come to
call the righteous to repentance, but sinners. The gospel is good
news. Glad tidings. Isaiah 52 says
how beautiful on the mountains, Mount Zion, are the feet of Him
that brings good tidings, that publishes peace. You know, good
news is welcome news to those who've heard the bad news. You know, we often say this,
do you want to hear the good news first or the bad news? Always
choose the bad news first. It'll make the good news better.
You understand? Brother Scott used to say, I've
never heard any bad news since I've heard the good news. You've
got to hear the bad news. Not, smile, God loves you and
has a wonderful plan for your life. He's angry. I've got good news. I've got
glad tidings. Glad tidings. Glad tidings. Good news makes you glad. Makes you happy, doesn't it?
I want you to go away from here happy. Bad news makes you sad,
doesn't it? Brother Barnard, you quoted this,
John. Brother Ralph Barnard told my
pastor when he was just 20-some years old, he said, preach, young
man, preach, so that men will get mad, sad, or glad. Preach so clearly they understand
what you're saying, who God is, what man is. They'll get mad. They won't believe it. But some, by God's grace, get
sad. Blessed are they that mourn.
They'll get glad. They'll be happy. Mad, sad, glad. Bad news. War. There was a time
in this country And up until 9-11, yeah, 9-11, this country
never, until way before that, Civil War, was never really invaded,
right? And someone invaded. And the
thought of war shook this nation that thought it was so impregnable,
so undefeatable. There was a time, World War,
when this nation was going to be neutral. Remember? And every nation in
the world was being under attack by ruthless men. And this nation
was going to be neutral. Well, Pearl Harbor. It wasn't but by the grace of
God that they didn't come straight from Hawaii to California, that
they'd own this land. God stopped him. But this whole
nation was shaken. It changed everybody in this
nation's lives. You did not have a life like
you used to live. You lost a lot of what you had.
Creature comforts and all that. The news of war is a terrible
thing. But buddy, when World War II
was over, I'd like to have been there. I'd like to have been
a part of that. When World War II was over and
they sent news across the airwaves, peace! No more war! It's over! Our enemy that made
us tremble is dead! This whole nation was one big
party. I've got better news than that. God who's angry with the wicked
every day. God who sends these wars because
of that, because of idolatry, because of sin, because of rebellion
and rejection of Him, because they hate His Son. God is angry
with the wicked every day. There will be no peace for the
wicked, for those who rebel against God, for those who don't have
any interest in God's Son. God's not going to let it happen.
He's going to send calamities and disasters. The wrath of God
is revealed from Heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness
of men that hold the truth in unrighteousness. No, God is not
like this world says He is. He loves you and has... No, no,
no! That's not the God of this book.
And the heavens declare His glory, the firmament show His hand in
work, and the wrath of God revealed every day. And man is so ignorant
and blind he doesn't see it. We see it, don't we? how good God is to show us. Like
Israel of old saw those plagues. They knew who sent those plagues.
And they knew why. And they knew it was the mercy
and grace of God that it wasn't on them. Here's the good news to His people. You see, this is not to everybody.
This is not to rebels against God. This is to those that trust
Him, believe Him, Bow to their Creator and believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ. Speak comfortably to them. Speak
to their heart. Tell them their warfare is accomplished. God is not angry with them. The
wrath of God is not going to fall on them. Why? It fell on
their substitute, Jesus Christ. The battle is not yours. Warfare is accomplished, and
Christ won. By Christ, the Son of God, the
captain of our salvation, He came, He conquered sin, death,
and hell. You've heard that a million times.
Want to hear it another million? It's good news now. Warfare accomplished. Peace. Peace. You have peace
with God. You know, we feel guilt all the
time. We do. We feel guilt all the time. We
feel fear. We're afraid our sins give us
trouble. The world gives us trouble. We
fear God. And we fear missing God. We fear
missing eternity. And we fear we're going to fall
away. Good news. I've got good news. To the child
of God, those who are in Christ, it doesn't matter how you feel. Christ obtained your redemption. Is that good news or what? It was about at one time, I fixed
her a milkshake. She was only about five years
old standing there. Man, I was drinking. She looked
up at me and said, is that good or what? Is this good news or what? Well, if you're drinking again,
hungry and thirsty after Christ, If you're a sinner, if you're
a child of rebellion, a child of wrath even as others, but
God brought you in to hear this voice, good news. You've received of
the Lord's hand double for all your sins. Meaning? Mercy and grace have met together. Righteousness and peace have
kissed each other in the Lord Jesus Christ. He not only forgives
you, he adopts you. Isn't that something? He not only says your sins are
gone, but he said, you're going to be with me in glory forever.
He not only pardoned that thief on the cross for everything he'd
ever done, and not done, He took him into glory with him. Look,
Father, your son's home. My, my, my. Isn't that something? Isn't that something? Verse 3, the voice of him crieth
in the wilderness, Thank God for his voice. Huh? Thank God for preachers. I'd
have never heard God's voice If He hadn't raised up a man to preach to me. He still speaks. And though the
world despises this office, this is the only way that God is going
to speak to you and your children. It is. My voice shall appear,
and what is he to cry? Verse 3. Prepare the way of the
Lord. What's a preacher do? You know,
I had the privilege yesterday of speaking over what they call
Zoom. Brother Clay Curtis has been
speaking to some men in the Philippines that want to be preachers. And
he asked me to do it yesterday. I've done it before in Mexico
and our men here too. But what is the preacher to preach? What's the voice? God made a
man be a preacher. What did he used to preach? One
thing. One thing. He used to do one
thing. Preach. Preach Christ. Prepare ye the
way of the Lord. What's the way? Who's the way? Christ is the
way. The truth. The lie. Prepare ye
the way of the Lord. in the desert. This is a desert,
isn't it? This is a desert. It's dry and
thirsty land. There's not much water here.
There's not much truth here. Lots of Bibles. Not much truth.
Lots of churches. Not much truth. Not much gospel.
It's a desert. Oh, make a highway for our God. Who's that? He's talking about
our God. He says He's going to come. Our
God. Who is it? Jesus Christ. He's going to describe
Him here. Read on. He said, every valley
shall be exalted, every mountain made low, every low center going
to be brought high. Oh, we just don't know how high.
When He told that thief, today you'll be with Me in paradise,
he had no clue, did he? He's just glad the Lord spoke
to him. He's just glad he felt pardoned. Boy, the next thing
he knew, we just know now. Every valley shall be exalted,
every mountain, every proud high and lofty center is coming down. Count on it. God's purpose. It's
going to happen. Everything that exalted itself
against God and against Christ is going to be brought crashing
down. Everyone that bows at His feet,
humble and broken, his sight is going to be lifted high, way
high. Behold His glory. Make the crooked
straight. Oh, my. Make the rough places
plain. You know, the law can't save
us, can it? You can't climb Mount Sinai.
I'm here to tell you about somebody who did. accomplished our salvation. The
gospel, plain and simple, is Christ did it all. There it is. Christ is all. The glory of the
Lord. Who's that? What's that? It's
Christ. Moses said, Lord, show me your
glory. He said, I'll make all my goodness pass. I'll proclaim
the name of the Lord. I'll be merciful to whom I will
be merciful. I'll be gracious to whom I will
be gracious. The Lord, God, merciful, gracious. What's that? Who's
that? Where's that? That's all in Christ. You see,
mercy and truth, righteousness and peace, the goodness of God,
the good news of God is all about Jesus Christ and Him crucified
for sinners. Good news. Good news to sinners. All flesh is going to see Him
someday, together, all flesh, verse 5, the mouth of the Lord
has spoken it, isn't it? It's like the lightning that
strikes from the east to the west, all flesh is going to see
Him. They are. Now the voice, verse 6, God's
Word says cry. And I said, what shall I cry? All flesh is grass. All flesh is grass. That's what
you cry. The goodliness thereof is the
flower of the field. The grass withereth, the flower
fadeth, because the Spirit of the Lord bloweth upon it. Surely
the people is grass. I've told you so often to read
Psalm 90, and that's what it's talking about. It says we grow
up as tender plants, and we're cast down, and we're no sooner
born until we get old and we die. It's like a sleep. You go
to sleep and you wake up and you're old. It's over. That's
just the way it is. Flesh. Flesh. Flesh. Flesh is
so weak. Flesh is so finite, isn't it? Seventy years, you know. That's
not very long, is it? It really isn't. It goes by like
that. It really does. And flesh is so weak. One little
germ. One little germ. One little bullet. One little blood clot. Reduce
you to nothing. Strongest man. Most beautiful
woman. It's grass. Spirit of the Lord
blows on it to show us you're just grass. You just die withering. You grow up for a little while.
You bloom. You look beautiful. When our Lord's wrath is kindled
just a little, it doesn't take much to blow all flesh away. Look at this, verse 8. The grass
withereth, the flower fadeth, but the word of our God shall
stand forever. Everything he said is true. Christ
said that. He said heaven and earth will
pass away, but not one word of mine shall fail. And those of you who believe
His Word, it'll go well with you. And His
Word is Christed. He's the Word. The Word of our
God shall stand forever. Now, verse 9. I'm getting to
verse 10 and 11 if I want to dwell on it a little bit. O Zion,
or thou that preachest to the church. Who's listening to me
right now? Well, the church, Mount Zion,
Jerusalem, New Jerusalem. The world won't have this. We've
been here 35 years. I've been here 35 years. The
man before me preached the gospel. This community, where are they? Where are all the people? I've
invited them. Some have come, some have gone.
You've invited them. Where are they? Why aren't they
here? Well, they've got a place they
like. That's fine. They've got a God they like.
They don't like this God. They don't like me. I understand that. I don't like me. You better like this God. You
better like His truth. All I'm trying to do is tell
you what God says about God. What God says about man. I don't
want to hear that I'm a worm. God said it. You know who wants
to hear it? Worms. Jacob, hear not thou worm,
Jacob. That woman came to Christ. He
said, I'm not giving the children's bread to dogs. What's she saying? Truth, Lord. Truth, Lord. Everything you say
about me, about you, about man, about God is truth. The whole
truth. And nothing but the truth. And
you're my Lord. You call me a dog? It's true. I'm totally, completely at your
mercy to feed me or cast me aside or kick me out. I'm your dog.
The only reason she said that, Helen, is because she was his
dog. What do you think about your dogs, Helen? I know what
you think about them. I've been there. She treats them
like humans. And our God does too. Treats
them like sons. Oh, thou that preachest to Zion
good tidings. I got good news for dogs. My
dad preached a message one time from that passage. He entitled
it, All Dogs Go to Heaven. It's true. Oh, Zion, now that
bringeth good tidings, get up into a high mountain. Oh, Jerusalem,
or he that preaches to the church, New Jerusalem, that brings good
tidings, that preaches the gospel, lift up thy voice with strength. When did preachers start hollering? Well, at least from Isaiah. In
Isaiah, another place it says, be not afraid, lift up your voice. Lift up the voice with strength.
Be not afraid. Say unto the cities of Judah,
Tell them, You'd like to say this, wouldn't you? You'd like to say this right
now, wouldn't you, John? Behold your God. Brothers and sisters, would you
listen to the Word of God? God is not trying to do anything. God is doing everything. God
is not waiting on man to let him do anything. He's already
done everything. Yes, God's done all He can do,
and there's nothing left to do. That's the God I need. Don't
holler. No! That's what He tells me to
do. Oh, my, my. Our God is God. In the face of
this world of wars and rumors of wars and all this evil and
all this wickedness and all this that we're worried about for
our children and ourselves and our economy and all that, behold,
your God is God! God's God! This is His world.
He made it. He runs it right now. Everything
that writhes or wriggles, every germ, every bullet, every sword,
every cannon, God's reigning in Rubley. I can't say that except
with zeal and enthusiasm. Are you hearing me? He told me that. How many times
do I have to tell you? As long as I have breath, as
long as I'm your voice, brothers and sisters, you need not fear
anyone or anything but God. He's God. He has not discarded
me to say that. Who's not to be feared. Who's
a bystander. Who doesn't want things to happen,
they happen anyway. Who needs that he's not, that's
no God. He's no more God than I am. That's
no more God than I am that doesn't want bad things to happen, they
happen anyway. That's me. I can't do anything. Behold your
God. This whole book, isn't it? You've
read it. You've read it. This whole book
is telling us, I'm God. Why does He keep having to say,
I'm God? There is none else. Why does
He keep saying that? Because man is such an ignorant bummy.
Such a fool. God wants to be God. Won't you
let God be God? Let God be God. Are you serious? He goes on to
say, who was there when He created the universe? Who let Him do
that? What are you comparing Him to?
How can you compare this incomparable God? What power on earth, or
in heaven for that matter, can you compare to God? None. You have no concept of His absolute
power. None. No concept. Tell them, behold your God. Look
at verse 10. Now, verse 10 to 11, this is
what made me want to preach from there. Behold, the Lord God will
come. Who? What does Isaiah 25 say? In this
mountain shall he do this feast of fat things and wine on the
leaves, and he'll destroy the... I don't want to misquote it.
He said, in this mountain the Lord shall destroy the face of
the covering cast over the people. That is, the blind to God. And the veil that spread over
all the nations. The veil of the New Testament.
Who God is. Who Christ is. He'll swallow
up death and victory. Who did that? Jesus Christ. The
Lord God will wipe away tears from all the faces. And it will
be said, in that day that He comes, this is our God. Who?
Jesus Christ was God, is God. He has come. Isaiah said he will
come. The Old Testament says someone's
coming. The apostles, the gospels say he's here. Who? God. Manifest in the flesh. Well,
that Jesus can't be God. He's not. He's just a man like
that. He was God and made himself to be a man. You're God. That's our God, isn't
it? Verse 10, He'll come with a strong hand, and His arm shall
rule for Him. Now, as I say it, I repeat myself. I'm trying to repeat what the
Lord said. Isaiah 62, 6 says the Lord's
remembrances. Just keep saying the same thing. I'm going to repeat myself. It's
alright. It's alright, I'll say the same
thing. I'm told to. But this is how you know the
difference between false religion and truth. All religion, false
religion without exception, says this, they use this little clever
cliche, and I've heard it in Catholicism, I've heard it in
Southern Baptist, I've heard it in Methodist, I've heard it
in Presbyterian, I've heard it everywhere, Episcopal, name it,
Lutheran, I've heard it all across the board. Every one of them
believed it. God has no hands, but your hands. No feet, but
your feet. You've heard it, haven't you?
You heard it when you were in that false religion. You heard
him say that. Meaning God can't do anything without you. I'm here to lift up my voice
and tell you, our God has hands and we're in them. Everyone and
everything is in His hands. The scripture said He's the God
in whose hands our breath is. Oh, COVID. Is that it? COVID? I forgot the name of it. Hallelujah. I forgot the name
of it. If I never hear the word again,
I'll be fine. That doesn't take away our breath. God does. He
said, I kill, I make alive. If you don't believe that, you'll
be afraid of every germ flying through the woods. You better
wear a mask, alright? Believers have no business fearing
like that. None. Now hold your God. The God whose hand your breath
is, and all your ways, your children, your grandchildren, your life,
your money, your house, your dog is in His hands. Aren't you
glad? I worry about those two little
cats being run over. Who brought them here? Name one
Ruth. Because God did. He brought her
here. She's me. Ruth's me. I said, Ruth, I'm
not going to cast you out. Why? Because she's me. Because
I found grace in the Lord's eyes. Who am I? I'm more worthless
than that cat. And don't you say anything about
Ruth. Seriously. He's our God in everything
and everyone is in His hands. And under His arm. His almighty arm. Leaning, we're going to sing,
I hope, in closing, leaning on the everlasting arms. Oh, our Lord has arms. His strong hand, His strong arm. You know, I had 50 verses of
Scripture about His arm. I was going to read to you. Let
me just read you one. Okay? I've run out of time. The Psalms are full of his hands
and his arms. Why do religions say that? Because
they don't use the Bible. They don't read the Bible. Psalm 89, listen to this, God
is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints. We had
in reverence of them that are about Him. O Lord God of hosts,
who is a strong Lord like unto Thee? Thy faithfulness round
about Thee. Thou rulest the raging of the
sea. When the waves thereof arise,
You still them. Who did that when He was on earth?
Jesus Christ. You've broken Egypt in pieces
as one that is slain. You scattered Your enemies with
Your strong arm. We use that term. He strong armed
them. Psalm 89, listen to verse 13. Thou hast a mighty arm, strong
is thy hand, and high is thy right hand. Listen to this. He
is spaking vision to your holy one. I have laid help on one
that is mighty. I have exalted one chosen out
of the people. I have found David my servant.
With my holy oil have I anointed him. With my hand he will be
established. And mine arms shall strengthen
him. Our God has hands and arms. It is Jesus Christ. That is His
arm. That is His hand. God is Spirit.
Yes, He is. But He is flesh too. And He has
a mighty arm. And we're in His hands and we're
hanging on His arm. John, you brought this up. A
few messages back, I brought it up. Do you remember when you
were just a child and you had a father, a healthy father, would
he ever make bare, roll his sleeve back and show you his bicep?
Did your father ever do that? I thought my father was Arnold
Schwarzenegger. He'd show me that arm. I took
great comfort in his arm, you know. I did the same thing to
my daughter, you know. God made man different than women. And the strength of a man is
first and foremost seen in his arm. You know, men take such... Pleasure and vanity and pride
and getting their arms big, you know. It's the way it made a
man. Strong arms, okay? Why? Strong
arms and muscles to lift heavy loads. Strong arms and muscles
to bear heavy burdens. Strong arms and muscles to build
buildings, big buildings, fight wars, defeat foes. Oh, that is a picture of our
Lord Jesus Christ. As a man on this earth who had
no form, nor commodities. He was not tall like some of
you. He was not handsome like somebody. He didn't have bulging
muscles. He wasn't a stronger man on earth. It's not outward. It's not for
show. for service, for a purpose. Man is so vain, you know, he
builds up these arms, he goes, these bodybuilders, you know,
they spend all their days in a gym, and they ain't worth a
flip. They may be able to bench press
five or six hundred pounds, but they ain't done nothing for nobody. And here this poor little Rabbi
from Bethlehem comes walking, slim. What is strength? Strength of body? Strength of
heart? Strength of mind? Oh, no doubt
he could, with a word, bring down his foe. He did. Sit. I love Martin Luther and that
hymn One little word shall fail him. You remember when Satan,
our Lord said to Satan, get. That's strength. But our Lord is the arm, He is
the arm of God, the arm of the Lord, able to lift heavy loads,
the only one. Bear heavy burdens. You and every
one of us and all that you own, He's able to bear you up. Build
buildings. He built this church. Though
the gates of hell are against it. He's fighting every fight,
every battle. He's strong. All power, He said,
is given unto me in heaven and earth. He's able. His arm is
not short. He's able to reach down into
the lowest pit. He brought me up out of a horrible
pit. Reached way down for me. Oh,
I'm here to tell you, his arm's not short. You say, my child's
too far gone. There ain't no such thing. His arm's not short. He's able. He's not weak. He's able to lift
out of the pit. Oh, I love this story. Simon
Peter. How do you picture Simon Peter? I picture John as kind
of a small fellow like me. I picture Simon Peter being about
like Stephen now. Okay? Simon Peter was going down
under those waves. He was drowning. And our Lord Jesus Christ, an
average man, about 5 foot 8 or 9, 140 pounds maybe, reached
down and picked him up. And Simon Peter, that's my God. He's my God. See, Peter couldn't
save himself. Only one could. A strong arm. Brothers and sisters, our God
has arms. And Jesus Christ is it. And let
me close with saying this in Isaiah 40. It says, His arms
shall rule for Him. He reigns and rules. His reward
is with Him. His work before Him. He is our
reward. His work is our work, isn't it? But what this is saying, I believe,
is saying He did this not for money, not for reward, not for
money or any of that. He did it Out of love and honor
to the Father, for the glory he had for his Father, and for
the joy that was set before him of making you his people. He
did it out of love. It wasn't show bringing Simon
Peter out of there. Look how strong I am. It was
love. He's not going to let Simon Peter
drown because he loves him too much. Now if you trust Him, if
you call on Him, He is not. It's good news. If you look to
Him, I don't care where you are, what you are, how low, how deep
you get in the pit. If you look to Him, that's what
that prayer said. You call on Him, He is not going
to let you go. That's our God. And look at this
strong arm. This strong arm, He'll feed His
flock like a shepherd. He'll gather His lambs with His
arm. and he's going to carry them in his bosom. Gently lead those that are with
you. That strong arm that's able to build a universe, hand, strong
arm able to defeat every foe. conquer the whole world. I've overcome the world, he said.
It will not overcome you because I've overcome it by myself. That strong arm is so gentle
and so tender. My dad had those big arms. And
you know there's nothing I like more than to have him put that
arm around there. Has this Gospel done that for
you? I hope so. That strong Lord, if you love
Him, He loves you like that. May He wrap you in His arm. He'll gently lead you and your
young all your days, carry you to your hoary head. Okay. John,
you come, please.