All right, let's take our Bibles
and turn back to Isaiah 62. Isaiah 62. You know, it's wonderfully comforting
when we behold the promises of the Lord to his people, those
of whom we just sang, of his everlasting love, his affection. His promises are sure. They don't fade, they don't fail,
and they're promises that can only be known and believed by
faith. We talk about the promises of
God. And beside His Word, how do you
know they're so? Well, by faith, we believe Him.
When He says concerning His bride, I've loved you with an everlasting
love. There's never been a time I didn't
love you. You know what the bride says?
He's always loved me. when scripture says that all
of our iniquities, now listen, everything that I am by nature,
all that he's revealed to me that I've done, I've thought,
I've never thought a good thing. I've never had a pure thought
of myself. He tells me that all of my righteousnesses
are filthy rags. No matter what I think about
me, it's what I am by nature. And it says that the Lord has
borne all of my guilt at Calvary. Now you know, I believe Him,
Mike. I believe Him. Outside of that, I don't have
any hope that my sin has been put away. I know without holiness
before God, I'm not going to see God. I need my debt put away. I need righteousness to be accepted
and only in Him. That's a promise. Now, this morning,
I want to take up where we just left off. I want to take up Isaiah
62, and I'd like to pick up in verse 6. And I want us to consider
these promises of the Lord, promises of His love and His care to His
church. Now, we talked this morning about
the necessity of hearing the gospel. And when we hear the
gospel, We hear the truth about who God is. We hear the truth about who we
are. We hear the truth about the Lord
Jesus Christ, the mediator, the one mediator between God and
men. And we hear the truth about salvation, that it's of the Lord. All of grace, that's when the
gospel is preached. We hear about the finished work. We hear about the Christ. who
has finished the work. That's who we hear about him.
But listen to these promises. We know we need to hear the gospel.
Well, verse six says, concerning the need to hear the gospel,
I have set watchmen upon thy walls, O Jerusalem, which shall
never hold their peace, day nor night. You shall make mention. He's talking to the watchman
now. You shall make mention of the
Lord. Keep not silence. I've set them up. These men are
set upon the walls of Jerusalem. What is that? Scripture declares
that God's church is a hedge to buy. That's what Satan told
the Lord. The Lord asked me, he said, have
you considered my servant Job? Righteous, righteous man. One
loved God, eschewed evil, hated evil. Righteous man. Satan said, yeah, but you got
him hedged about. Well, wherever that hedge is, wherever those
walls are, the walls are protection. Wherever that is, if the Lord
says that we're a hedged about garden, then that means we're
a hedged about garden. That's what it means. And wherever
that hedge is, according to His providential power and glory
and word, the Lord said, I've set watchmen upon thy walls.
I've raised them up to be a guard and a protection. And they shall
never hold their peace, day nor night. They won't stop preaching. Remember Jeremiah? You know, it seemed to Jeremiah,
everybody was rebellious. They wouldn't hear what he was
saying. And Jeremiah said, I just resolved in my heart, I'm not
going to preach anymore. I'm done. I'm done. But he said
his word was in me like fire in my bones. I couldn't do it.
God gives a man a heart to preach and the Lord says they won't
hold their peace. He tells them, you make mention
of the Lord. That's what he's telling his
preachers. God calls men to preach the gospel, and these are men
that watch. They're watchmen, they're watchmen.
First they're told to watch over themselves. The apostle Paul
told his son in the faith, Timothy, 2 Timothy 4-5, but watch thou
in all things. Endure afflictions, do the work
of an evangelist, and make full proof of thy ministry. What does he say? Be steady,
be faithfully performing the duties of the ministry. Seeking the things of God. Seek
the Lord first. That's the first thing. Before I can talk, Preach to
you. I must talk to the Lord first. I must seek Him first. Ask Him. Seek ye first the Kingdom of
God and His righteousness. All these things will be added
unto you. So these men called to preach, they're to watch over
themselves. Be cautious. Be careful. And
be ever aware. Cause they're watching over God's
sheep. Remember who you're representing. I remember Don Fortner told me
one time, Faith, his daughter. Don Shelby have one daughter,
Faith. And when she's growing up, Don
said, I used to tell her, I said, now you remember. You remember
when you get old enough to date and you get, you know, you're
going out. Remember who's you are. Remember who you represent. Remember. Remember. These watchmen, they
watch. They watch themselves. They're
to be faithful. 1 Corinthians 4. Moreover, it's
required in stewards that a man be found watchful. They watch
for themselves and they watch over the sheep. Hebrews 13, 17,
obey them that have the rule over you. That rule according
to the word of God. God's ministers are not, they
don't lord over God's people. We don't drive them. We're to
be watchful, submit yourselves to these ministers for they watch
for your souls. As they that must give account. that they may do it with joy
and not with grief, for that is unprofitable to you." The
Lord of glory, he is the shepherd. He's the great shepherd of the
sheep. He's the king. But pastors, and
you know what the first look-up definition of a pastor, you know
what it is? Shepherd. That's what it is. These pastors,
these shepherds. These shepherds that are promised,
these ministers, these watchmen, that are sent of God are those
who are called to watch, watch over themselves. He said, watch,
be careful, be careful. I told you, they're men just
like any other men in the sense of being born in Adam, but still
they're in a fishbowl. I told you this now, and you
know this so. You just, you expect more. Expect more. Somebody says, well
you don't need to watch that closely. Well that's just the
way it is. You need to understand. People
are watching. They see, they know. Be watch. But these men are called to watch
for the sheep, to teach them and give them instruction and
guide them, you know, in the understanding of the Scriptures.
I'll give you pastors after my heart, and they shall teach you
and give you understanding. It's the responsibility of a
pastor. You seek the Lord, seek His direction. Sixty-six books here. Where do
we go today? Well, ask the Lord. Pray and
seek the Lord. And prepare, and when you're
looking, look these words up, but look them up prayerfully.
Ask the Lord. He gave His disciples, and He
opened their understanding to the Scriptures. I thought, man,
the Lord opened my understanding. Show me, show me. These men are sinners, saved
by the grace of God, but they're men that are called to a special
calling. And so therefore, we're to honor
them. Honor them for the office's sake. Honor them for the one they represent,
the one who's called them. They've got a commission. They'll
never hold their peace day or night. They're always employed
in the task. It doesn't matter. When I leave
the church, if I'm here in the study, When I'm leaving, I'm
still thinking, still asking. I think during the night, thinking,
seeking, asking the Lord. Concerning these men that are
employed by the calling of God to this task, you know, they're
always in need of of seeking the Lord and preparing. In Acts
6, 3 and 4, the apostles said this, Wherefore, brethren, look
ye out among you seven men of honest report, honest character,
full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this
business. There was some business that
needed to be taken care of, you know, in the church. I mean,
we have some stuff that needs to be taken care of here, you
know, and so what were they doing in the church right there? He
said, look out, seven men, honest report, but we will give ourselves
continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word. So
this is what Isaiah was directed by God's spirit for these watchmen,
you know, in verse six. You know, ye that make mention
of the Lord, who are the Lord's remembrances in the margin, you
know, keep not silence. Verse 7, which is a continuation
of verse 6, keep not silence, and give him no rest till he
establish, until he make Jerusalem a praise in the earth. And give
him no rest. Him who? The Lord. Give Him no
rest. The Lord of glory. What is Isaiah
saying to the ministers, to the preachers under the direction
of God's Spirit? Don't give Him any rest. Don't leave Him alone. Approach
Him with importunity. What is that? Don't stop. Don't
stop. Be a Jacob. When the Lord wrestles
with Him. and wouldn't let him go. The
Lord told him, said, let me go. And he said, not until you bless
me. No. No. Be like that woman of Canaan
who besought the Lord. The Lord's blessing for her daughter
came to him. My daughter is grievously vexed.
The Lord said, it's not me that I should give the children's
bread to dogs. She said, you're right, Lord. But dogs even get
the crumbs that fall from the master's table. And He said to
this woman, Woman, great is thy faith. Be it unto you. Be like that woman that wouldn't
leave that unjust judge alone until he avenged the wrong she
had suffered. Be diligent. That's what Isaiah is saying.
Give him no rest. The Lord's not wearied. in the
continued petitions and cryings of his people. That doesn't weary
him. Come unto me, he said, all ye
that labor heavy laden, I will give you rest. And the Lord's
people here, especially here in his ministry, that's our commission. Don't give him any rest. I'll have sometimes people will
call here and they'll say, I hate to bother you, I hate to, you
know. And I tell him, I said, you're not bothering me. You're
not, you're not, you're not bothering me. You think we're bothering
the Lord? We cry unto Him. Lord, have mercy. Don't, don't,
give Him no rest till He establish, until He make Jerusalem a praise
in the earth. Give Him no rest until His church
is brought into the fullness and the blessing of His will
until He shows her to be the glorious bride without stain
and without spot. And I said in the first message,
when will that be? Well, really, in the day of judgment. So what do we do? We think we're
going to come to a point while we're in this life and, you know,
well, okay, well, it's over. It's done for me. No, not for
God's preachers. You don't stop. We pray unto
the Lord, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is
in heaven. God's people, they pray for the
calling out. I pray that God have mercy. I
pray that God call out His people. I know He's got a people. I pray God save your kids. I pray God save your spouse.
Your neighbors. Invite somebody to come. Tell
them the only hope they got is to hear the gospel. That's the
only hope they got. Just tell them. And then the
Lord promises something that we need to hear again and again.
Look at 8 and 9. The Lord has sworn by his right
hand, by the arm of his strength, surely I will no more give thy
corn to be meat for thine enemies, and the sons of a stranger shall
not drink thy wine, for the which thou hast labored, but they that
have gathered it shall eat it and praise the Lord, and they
that have brought it together shall drink it in the courts
of my holiness." Now here's a promise to Israel. have been found, because of their
disobedience, to have suffered. You know, Isaiah 1.7 says, your
country is desolate, your cities are burned with fire, your land
strangers devour in your present, and it is desolate as overthrown
by strangers, obviously because of our disobedience. The Lord's
going to chasten His people. There's no judgment for the people
of God. Judgment was already spewed out
upon the Lord Jesus Christ at Calvary for His people. So it's
not judgment. I told you before when I would
have to spank my kids. I wasn't spanking them because
I didn't love them. I spanked them because I love
them. You know, I didn't want them to be disobedient and stuff
like that. So chastisement, they were placed
at times, Israel and us, in these dire straits. But here, Israel
is a type and picture of God's elect in covenant mercy. And the Lord is sworn by his
power concerning the surety of their spiritual prosperity. He said he swears according to
his people being found in his son. He said, I'm not going to
leave you. I'm not going to forsake you. He said the Lord is sworn
by his right hand, the right hand of Christ. That's the power,
his right hand. And by the arm of his strength,
I will no more give thy corn. to be meat. He said, these things
that picture the spiritual blessings that God has been pleased, He
said, you'll have them. You'll have them. I promise.
He's sworn to the spiritual prosperity of His people. We lose things
that the Lord knows best. It's not good for us. But these
eternal things, those good things that are needful, Psalm 84, 11,
no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly. We receive of the Lord's hand
spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ. Spiritual blessings that we,
in ourselves, we didn't deserve them. We deserved judgment, that's
what we deserve. But God who is mercy, who has
chosen to have mercy and compassion on whomsoever He will, He's saying
this, these things that were, and surely in their physical
life, Israel had those things taken from them. I mean, countries
came in, took them, took their corn, took their wines, they
were, you know, a picture of what we lost in Adam's fall. But the Lord said, I'm going
to restore that which I took not away. He said, this is spiritually
speaking. The Lord says, you'll have these
spiritual blessings. All that the Lord has been pleased
to give. So therefore, he says to these
ministers, he said, you tell them, verse 10, go through, go
through the gates. And then he tells the ministers,
you prepare the way of the people. He's telling the ministers to
say to the people, you go through, you go through, you teach them
of Christ. You tell them of the door himself. You tell them to enter in by
him. He said, I'm the way. You tell
them that. I'm the truth. You tell them
that. No man comes to the Father, but by me. I'm the life. So you tell them, you go through,
you tell them to come, to come. Come. All that are a thirst,
whosoever will. Somebody says that we don't believe
in whosoever will. Oh, I beg your pardon. Yes, we
do. I'm telling anybody right now.
If Almighty God had given you heart to see your need of Him,
come to Him. Tell you right now. Now what
I say is, unless the Lord calls, nobody can. The Lord said that. No one can come. He can't. That has to do with ability.
No man can. No man can come except to be
given unto him of my Father. I'm not going to tell you that
you've got a little faith in you and the Lord's just waiting
on you to do whatever you want to do. I'm not going to tell
you that because that's not true. But I will tell you this, whosoever
will, let him come. Take of the water of life freely. Come. So you tell them, go through
the gates. And then he says, prepare ye
the way of the people. Cast up the highway, gather out
the stones, lift up a standard for the people. Here, the Lord
who instructs his people to go through, come to Christ, come
to. He said, you cast up the highway,
that is the mound, make plain the highway of the gospel. That's
how you cast up the highway. I want you to understand what
I'm saying. That's how you... I don't want
to preach something you walk out and you say, well, it sounded
biblical. I don't know what he was talking
about. I want you to understand. The life is in Christ. You tell them how the Lord has
recovered His people from the bondage of sin and Satan. You
tell them about their hope of glory that's in the person of
the Lord Jesus Christ. It's not in their baptism. It's
not in their walking down the aisle. I told you, I was at that
little church one time. They made a big deal out of coming
down to the altar, which I guess was up here. But we have an altar. And it's the Lord Jesus Christ,
He Himself, the sacrifice. You know what the altar was,
or is? It was His cross. He was placed,
there He was, He laid down His life on that altar. And He put
away the guilt of His people. He's the altar. He's the sacrifice. He's the priest. I laid down
my life. The priest offered the sacrifice. He offered himself. He finished
the work. So he said, you tell the people,
go through. And you cast up the highway,
gather out the stones. You remove the heresy, the error
that might be a harm to the people of God. And you relate the truth
of Christ. who has finished the work, and
lift up the standard for thy people. Lift up the person of
the Lord Jesus Christ. When I was doing artwork years
ago, and I would be studying historical paintings, and whenever
I would do a painting and it had a guide on it, it had a flag,
it had there would be certain flags, and these flags set forth
where the commander was. You see the flag, you see the
guidon, you see the banner, you know where the commander is.
That's where the general is. Find that flag, kind of a target,
but I mean, his own men needed to know where he was. But you
lift up the standard, you lift up the person of the Lord Jesus
Christ, and you tell him, you look to him, You look to Him. He's the way. He's the only way. He's the only hope. And He said
in verse 11, Behold, the Lord hath proclaimed unto the end
of the world, Say ye to the daughter of Zion, Behold, thy salvation
cometh. Behold, His reward is with Him
and His work before Him. You say to her, Behold, the Lord
cometh. You tell them, your salvation,
which is Him. Salvation is a person. Remember
old Simeon? When Mary brought in the Lord
Himself to the temple in Simeon. Simeon held Him in his hand.
He said, Lord, you know, receiver, my eyes have seen your salvation.
Salvation is a person, the Lord Himself. And you say to the daughter
of Zion, I'm telling the church, I'm telling the bride, I'm preaching
to everybody, but I've got a message for the bride. This is a message. I don't know who they are. I
don't know all that they are. But I know they're there, so
I preach to everybody. But you say to her, behold, Thy
salvation, your Lord, your Lord Himself, you say to her, your
salvation cometh. Told you before that ETH on the
end, that means progressive. It just, you know, you know what?
He's always been coming. There's never been a time. that
he wasn't coming. Your salvation cometh. In Proverbs,
I'll read these if you'd like to turn this, Proverbs 8, verse 22. The scripture says,
and here's the wisdom himself speaking. Proverbs 8, 22. He
said, and this is the Lord of glory. The Lord, Jehovah, possessed
me in the beginning of His way before his works of old. Then he said in verse 31, here's
what he was doing, the covenant God. Rejoicing in the habitable
part of his earth, and my delights were with the sons of men. What
does that mean? There's never been a time when
the Lord did not delight in his people. Never been a time before
this world was ever created, before He was ever made flesh,
before He ever assumed that form of sinful flesh, before He came
into this world, made man, took upon Himself human nature. Before that, He said, My delight. Why? He was coming for them. They'd never been born yet, never
been made yet. He came before His flesh and
in the fullness of time. You know, even before He came
in the fullness of time, He appeared. It was pre-incarnate. Right now
I'm thinking about the time He came to Abraham, when Abraham
was in the wilderness before the Lord sent those two angels
into Sodom. Do you remember that? The Lord
came and it was the Lord Himself. And there was Abraham interceding.
Interceding for those in Sodom. If there'd be 50 men, I think
it was the first one, if there'd be 50 men, would you spare that
city for 50 men? 40? 30? Would you save it for
10? Yeah, there's 10. There wasn't
10. But there was. But that was the Lord. Here He
was, before He was made flesh, before time He was coming. But
before He was made flesh, He was coming in the fullness of
time. He was made of a woman, made under the law to redeem
them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption. So He came into this world as
the humble servant of Jehovah to establish righteousness for
His people, put away their sin by the shedding of His own blood.
Finish the work. Send it into heaven. But I'm
telling you, He's coming right now. He said where two or three
are gathered together in my name, I'm in the midst of you. And
I believe it. I believe He's here. I know He's
listening. I pray what I'm saying is honoring
to Him. I pray it's profitable for God's people. But I tell
you what, He's coming again. He's coming again. And that last
day He's going to come to receive us unto Himself that where He
is there we may be also. And His reward is with Him and
His work is recompensed before Him. And a passage of Scripture
as I wrap this up. It says His reward is with Him. Turn to Revelation 22. What is
it? His reward is with Him. His work. His reward, His wages,
His reward is with Him. Revelation 22, 12. Now listen
to this. This is talking about the last
days. This is when the Lord comes back. Revelation 22, 12. And behold, I come quickly, and
my reward is with me to give every man according as his work
shall be." His reward is with him and his
work is recompense before him. His reward, his wages. At Christ's
return, Every man is going to receive exactly according to
the Word of the Lord, that which is coming to him according to
his work. Either a man is going to be found
trusting in himself, in his will, in his self-righteous works,
like that Pharisee. Lord, I prophesied in your name.
I cast out devils in your name. I've done many wonderful works
in your name. And he's going to say, based on all those works
that he thought he did that merited his acceptance before God, the
Lord will say, I never knew you. I never knew you. But there are going to be those
that's going to be found concerning their work of faith, which is
not a work that they originated, but it was referred to as a work
of faith that was given to them by the blessing of the Holy Spirit.
And they had put no confidence whatsoever in their flesh, but
they were trusting God. And concerning those that trusted
the Lord, they'll hear this blessed announcement, Come ye blessed
in my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation
of the world. So the scripture declares, back in Isaiah 62, concerning the Lord's coming
back, the Lord hath proclaimed unto
them, say ye to the daughter of Zion, behold, thy salvation
cometh, behold, his reward is with him, his work before him. And then lastly, verse 12, And
they shall call them the holy people, the redeemed of the Lord. And thou shalt be called sought
out, a city not forsaken. They shall be called, they shall
call them, I'm sorry, they shall be called the holy people. You know, if I look at myself, Somebody
would ask me, Marvin, do you really see holiness in yourself? No. No. I don't. When I look within, I'm like
the writer said, all I see is dark and wild. No, I don't. I don't see holiness. But I believe
it. I believe that the Lord has separated
me and set me apart. Why? Because He gave me a heart
to believe Him, to trust Him. I believe that He set me apart
for His honor and glory and for my eternal good. And I believe
that who He says I am and all that believe Him, who He says
we are, that's who we are. He says, they shall call them
the holy people. A people chosen to be a special
people unto the Lord above all the people of the earth. Again,
not holy in themselves, but made to be so in the person of the
Lord Jesus Christ. And in time, they're going to
be regenerated by the grace of God and made partakers of that
inheritance of the saints. And they'll have a new nature
in time, a new nature created in righteousness. A new man that
the Scripture says doesn't sin. They said, you see that new man
in you? No. But I believe him. I believe
he's there. I see in me that is my flesh
that dwells no good thing, but the will is present with me,
but how to accomplish that which I would? This is what I believe.
This is what I believe. This is who I believe. They're
called the holy people, the redeemed of the Lord, purchased from the
bondage of sin and Satan. He said, thou shalt be called
sought out. Sought out. A city not forsaken. Now when it comes to this, that
term sought out, I looked it up. What does that
mean? Sought out. In my mind, I know
it's the people of God are everywhere and they're preaching of the
gospel, but that word sought out, it's a special meaning. It means more than just a casual
look or a glancing eye, you know, not like when I'm looking for
something in the refrigerator, you know. I just, I don't see
it. I see stuff. I just can't seem
to find it. It's just not where I think it
is. Right there, it's not there. It's not a glancing or casual
look. But it means to seek out with
care, to inquire are to give diligence with persevering investigation. I'm just telling what the definition
is. To seek with application. To seek with application. What
does that mean? It's like it would be if there
was a treasure lost in a sewer. It's that kind
of thing. Let me ask you ladies. If you
dropped your wedding band, your engagement ring or something
like that, and it fell in a sewer, it fell in there as an open sewer,
would you go after it? Yeah, you would. Yeah, you would. So you mean I'm going to have
to get down in that stuff? Well, if you want to find it, you are.
It means a treasure. that is mingled in the mire of
filth, sought out. A searching that would require
sifting the drags. I mean, this is getting pretty
filthy, I understand that, but I want you to understand what
the Lord is saying. He said, you're gonna be a people
called sought out. Where did the Lord find us? This
is where he found us. And anybody that's honest about
it, that's what they're going to say. My righteousnesses are
as filthy rags. You know what that means. Where
did He find us? He found us in the filth, the
pollution, the dregs of sin. And that's where God comes, in
that filth of their false security, self-righteousness. We've been
sought out, found, vouched. Washed them in the blood of Christ. Oh, the price of their cleansing.
What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
What can make me holy? Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
God tells his preachers, now you tell my people and don't
you be quiet. You tell them and you keep telling
them. and you seek me, and you don't
stop seeking me, and you preach the gospel to him, and you tell
him what I said about him. You tell him where I found him.
You tell him what I've done for him. I'll teach you, I'll keep
you, and that's what God's people do. That's what the preachers
do and his people do. May the Lord be blessed and his
people taught and honored for his sake, amen.