I'm going to ask you to take
your Bibles and open it to Isaiah 62. Isaiah 62. I thought about, well, let's see, I'm going to
go ahead and just tell you exactly what I thought. I had prepared
both messages for this morning. And what I was going to preach
first, as I was going over my notes, it made me think of something
else. And I went to that something
else, which was the first five verses of Isaiah 62 and so, Lord
willing, I'm going to try to preach out of these first five
verses that I looked at this morning and pray that the Lord
is pleased to bless it. And then what I was going to
preach first this morning, Lord willing, I'll preach in a minute.
But as I began to think upon the Lord's church We know that
God has a people. We know that the Church, the
Bride of the Lord Jesus Christ is referred to as a remnant, a small remnant, scattered throughout
all the earth. And she appears to this world
to be so insignificant, You find a place where the Lord
has raised up a body of believers. By and large, not always, but
by and large, it's a smaller group. A group that the Lord
has maintained and kept, like here at Katie. Years and years
ago, God raised up a preacher, a faithful preacher. and gave
him a heart to proclaim the unsearchable riches of the glory of God in
the Lord Jesus Christ. Gave him a heart to preach this
message that glorifies God and gives man no glory save that
glory that is bestowed upon her by the good pleasure of the Lord. And God calls preachers. sends them out to preach to them.
And so here we find in Isaiah 62 such a preacher. Here's Isaiah,
he's a prophet. But he's also a beautiful picture
of the Lord Jesus Christ. And Isaiah was moved by God's
Spirit to pronounce a God-ordained resolve in his heart. He said,
the Lord has given me a heart to preach, to preach to his people. And he says in verse one, for
Zion's sake, will I not hold my peace? And for Jerusalem's
sake, spiritual Jerusalem's sake, the church, the bride, Zion,
I will not rest. until the righteousness thereof
go forth as brightness, and the salvation thereof of the church,
of the bride, as a lamp that burneth. So for the glory of
the Lord, who loves His people, His bride, His loved her everlastingly,
for the sake of the church, not for Isaiah's sake, not for personal
gain, it wasn't a job, it is a calling, it's a ministry. It's
a calling that the Lord gives men to preach. Gives them a desire to preach.
I've told you before. Before the Lord was pleased to
call me to preach, I couldn't get it. I didn't get it. How
did somebody just come to a study and that's all they do? That's
all they do. They're there studying, and they're,
you know, I don't know if I can do that. Well, I'll tell you
this. If the Lord gives you a heart to do it, you will. Isaiah says,
for Zion's sake, I'm not going to hush. We must hear the truth. We need to hear the truth. We
want to hear the truth of Christ and we want to hear it frequently.
We want to hear it consistently. We want to hear it faithfully
proclaimed. Why? It's the power of God unto
salvation to everyone that believeth. Therefore, it's the only message
of joy and peace and comfort. What do I want to hear? What
do I want to hear? Right here. You tell me what
God says. This is what I want to hear.
And how long, how long are we to do that? He said, I will not
rest until the righteousness thereof go forth as brightness
and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burneth. How long
are God's preachers, their ministers to preach? Until the promise
of the church's righteousness, that righteousness that is imputed
to her, Not a righteousness that she earned, but it's that righteousness
in which the Lord robes his people until she is completely revealed. How long is that going to be?
Well, one of two things. It's either going to be until
the Lord calls his preacher home. He just preached till he just,
he couldn't think anymore. I told you about my CPA asking
me, when are you going to retire? This was when I was 62. That
was a long time ago. And I told him, I said, I never
really thought about it. Most preachers I know preach
until they just can't preach anymore. They just can't think
anymore. They can't think as they want to. Either until the
Lord calls them home or until he comes back. How long? How long? I will not
rest until the righteousness thereof go forth as brightness
and the salvation of God's people as a lamp that burneth. The prophet
declares the surety of God Almighty to have a people send some preachers. And then he tells them, he said,
there's a promise We're preaching because God has a people and
they're scattered all over the world. You go into all the world
and preach the gospel to every creature. Preach the gospel to
them. Listen, verse 2. And the Gentiles
shall see thy righteousness, and all kings thy glory. And
thou shalt be called by a new name, which the mouth of the
Lord shall name God's elect. They're everywhere. Every nation
and kindred and tribe and tongue. And the scriptures declares that
Isaiah saying, I can't rest. I just can't stop. I don't rest for God's glory
and for the good of his people. Because the Gentiles Jews and
Gentiles, the whole world. For God so loved the world. What
do you mean by that? Every person without distinction?
Well, you know the Lord refuted that statement. He said in John
chapter 17 verse 9, He said, I pray for those that you've
given me. I pray not for the world. I pray not for the world. but I pray for those that you've
given me out of the world." Now, you know, that's pretty particular.
So Isaiah is saying, he said, the Gentiles shall see thy righteousness
and all kings thy glory. And they'll be called by a new
name, a new name, a pleasant name, a fresh name. We're going to look at that name
in just a second. A name with a new position. A new position
of honor and character that the Lord Himself shall name. Now hold your place and turn
to Revelation 3.12. Revelation 3.12. Look at this right here. Here's the Lord speaking. Him
that overcometh, and you know that anyone that overcomes. How
did they overcome? Well, the Lord called them, the
Lord kept them. Preserved them, robed them, taught
them. They're kept by the power of
God. Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple
of my God. And he shall go no more out.
And I'll write upon him the name of my God and the name of the
city of my God, which is New Jerusalem, which cometh down
out of heaven from my God. I will write upon him my new
name. They said, we're going to look
at that name just a second. They're going to have a new name. And
Isaiah sets forth concerning this church. And again, I'll
tell you that we look around and I see a little congregation
here, a little congregation there. And you say, well, you can go
anywhere, anywhere and hear the gospel. Now, you know according
to the scriptures, that's not so. That's not so. And everywhere,
the Lord's been pleased to raise up a people. The Lord's going
to keep them. He's going to teach them. And
they're going to be kept and protected. Look at verse 3. Thou
shalt also be a crown of glory in the hand of the Lord, and
a royal diadem in the hand of the Lord. A crown of glory. Now listen to this. It didn't
say on his head. as if we could add any glory
unto Him, but a crown of glory in the hand of the Lord. Shown forth to be a glory and
beauty to Him. He's given us a new name and He's
going to keep us. He's going to protect us. For
His glory and our good, we're gonna be a crown of glory by
His power, by His power. I will say, they shall be my
people. They shall, all that the Father
giveth me shall come to me. And him that cometh to me, I
will in no wise cast out. He said, they're gonna be a crown
of glory in the hand of the Lord. Turn to Zechariah. Look, I mean
right there, if you get to Malachi, last book of the Old Testament,
just go back one book, you'll find Zechariah. Zechariah, next
to the last chapter, Zechariah chapter nine. Zechariah chapter
nine and verse 16 says this. And the Lord their God shall
save them in that day as the flock of His people. For they
shall be as the stones of a crown lifted up as an ensign upon His
land. Almighty God is going to show
them. I realize, I realize. The church
right now, you know, as far as the world is concerned. I mean,
there's some mega churches, church buildings, you know. How many
people you got? Oh, we got 35,000 members, you
know. We have 11 services, and we have
this, that, and the other. And here's a little old group
of people sitting over here on the back side of nowhere. As
I told you before, when I got here, I thought, where in the
world is Katy, West Virginia? The thing I saw was a little
old green sign. Somebody took it. And it said,
you know, Katie, unincorporated. I'm thinking, where's that? Not
even, you know, no mayor, no nothing. Oh, but God has been
pleased. God put a church here and raised
up the name of the Lord, raised up a people, and sent, as I said,
a faithful pastor that knew God. and proclaimed the glory of God.
And God blessed it. And raised up, and I'm telling
you, long time before I ever got here, I knew where Katie
West Virginia was. I knew who Scott Richardson was.
I knew who the Assembly, I knew who they were. And there was
respect. And there was honor, the honor
of God put upon this place. I know how the world's, I understand
all that. But this is what God says about
His people. This is how the Lord says that
we are to Him. And whatever men say don't matter.
What does God say about it? He said, the Gentiles shall see
thy righteousness and thou shalt be a crown of glory in the hand
of the Lord. Then the Lord moved Isaiah to
preach that the church, the glorious bride of Christ, she's not always
going to be viewed by the world as those that are floundering
and just here and there, just a little bit, you know. I do understand. I do know. I
understand the attitude, you know. And I understand, I mean,
we look around and we say, well, there's not as many of us here.
as once were, but we're still here. We're still here. Look,
listen, verse four and five, and I'm gonna stop. Thou shalt
no more be termed forsaken. Neither shall thy land any more
be termed desolate. But thou shalt be called Hephzibah,
and thy land Beulah. For the Lord delighteth in thee,
and thy land shall be married. For as a young man marrieth a
virgin, so shall thy sons marry thee. And as the bridegroom rejoiceth
over the bride, so shall thy God rejoice over thee. Yes, we know that those who know
not the Lord. They see not the bride, the church,
of the Lord Jesus Christ as he says she really is. You would say to me, are you
telling me that these little congregations were the glorious
gospel of God's free and sovereign grace? Little here, little there,
there's one, there's two or three in that state, here's one over
here in this state, maybe there's none here. Maybe there's four
here. You mean to tell me that those
that preach this message, the message that glorifies God Almighty
as the Creator, as the One who oversees and rules and reigns
in Providence, the One who is sovereign in salvation and saves
whosoever He will? You're telling me that those
little groups of people that they are the ones that Almighty
God has set his affection on? Is that what you're telling me?
No, I'm telling you that's what God said. That's what the Lord
said. I'm just repeating it. He said,
you will no more, no more be called forsaken. No more are you going to be called
left behind. No more are you going to be called
desolate. Wasted. No more. He said, you're
going to be called Hephzibah. You're going to be called, my
delight is in her. Somebody say, is there anybody
in this congregation that your delight is in as your wife? Yep. Sure is. One. Who is it? My delight is
in her. Why? She's my wife. The Lord's
given her to me. We're one. We're together. He
said, you should be called Hephzibah. My delight is in her. And let
me ask you this. What else matters? If the Lord's
delight is in His people, those that He's given a heart, to bow
to Him as the sovereign. He's God. If His delight, if
He's for us, who can be against us? Well, I want everybody to
like me. I really do. I try my best. I hate confrontation. I hate
that. But you know, when it comes to
these scriptures, there's no wavering. What saith the Lord? Say what
He says. Here is the church's maker who
is her husband. He who delights in her, the Lord
by His grace that has wrought out all in her that makes her
His delight. He loved her. He eternally saw
her in Christ. He put her there. He chose to
put her there. And her guilt has been put away
by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Atonement, a covering has been
made for her by the sacrifice of her husband. He paid her debt.
What did she owe? She owed everything. What did
he pay? Paid it all. Finished the work. And now here, as her husband,
and savior, and king, and priest, and husband, and Lord, he said,
you shall no more be called forsaken. Desolate. You're going to be
called, my delight is in her. That's what you're going to be
called. There's that new name. The Lord's going to give her
a new name. And here's a part of that same name. He said, your
name's going to be Beulah. Married. Married. And he said, and as the bridegroom
rejoiceth over the bride, so shall thy God rejoice over thee. Listen. Rest assured. The Lord has a people, and He's
going to call those people. They're all going to come to
Him. He bore the debt, the guilt. He carried the sorrows. He said, John 10, 15, I lay down
my life for the sheep, and for those for whom he died, that
he was wounded for their transgressions. All that for whom he was bruised,
bruised for her iniquities. And the chastisement of their
peace. What does that mean? The chastisement
of our peace. All that was needful for us to
obtain peace with God. The chastisement of our peace
was upon him. And I'm telling you, with his
stripes, we're healed. Now I realize, in this world,
the world sees the bride of Christ. One bride in these little places
where the gospels raced up. I know they see them as just,
you know, half wits. I get it, I get it. But let me
tell you something. This is who the Lord says his
people are. He loves her. He bought her. And he's coming to get her. He's
going to keep her. And I pray that these few words,
precious words, precious words of God, will be blessed to our
heart, for our good, and for his glory. Amen. All right.