I'm going to ask you to take
your Bibles and turn with me to the book of Isaiah 62. Isaiah
chapter 62. I'd like to look at a couple of verses
of scripture. Verses 11 and 12. Isaiah 62 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. And they shall call
them the holy people. the redeemed of the Lord, and
thou shalt be called sought out, a city not forsaken." This morning, I come with a proclamation from
the Lord. And here's what it says, The Lord hath proclaimed unto
the end of the world. But let me ask you this. It says
the Lord hath proclaimed. That's right. The Lord hath proclaimed. My sheep hear my voice. I know them. They follow me. The sheep hear the voice of the
Lord. How? How? Well, look at the next word after
the word world. Behold, the Lord hath proclaimed
unto the end of the world, Say ye. God has called preachers. And this is how the Lord speaks
to his people when the scriptures declare that the sheep hear the
voice of the Lord. Here's how they hear it. They
hear it with this ear as they hear the gospel preached. We're
bound to give thanks to God for you, beloved of the Lord. For
God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification
of the spirit and belief of the truth, and hath called you by
our gospel. God's sheep hear the voice of
the Lord with an ear, a corporal ear, but with a new ear, a new
ear of the heart. It's the hearing ear. That seeing
eye and that hearing ear that the Lord has given His people
in regenerating grace. They hear. They hear the voice
of the Lord. You say, well, I hear Marvin speaking. Yeah, but if
this is all you hear, you're not hearing Him. As a preacher
stands and proclaims the gospel from God's Word, they hear the
voice of the Lord. The Lord hath proclaimed. The
scripture says in 1 Corinthians 1 21, For after that in the wisdom
of God, the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the
foolishness of preaching to save them but belief. God sends a
preacher. The Lord has been pleased to
bless his word by the gospel. And whenever God Almighty sends
a gospel preacher, And all gospel preachers preach the same thing.
They preach the gospel of God's sovereign grace, sovereign saving
grace. Whenever a man stands and proclaims
the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, that message that is
proclaimed is set forth by that man who is a representative of
the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, then we're ambassadors for
Christ as though God did beseech you by us. We pray you in Christ's
stead, be ye reconciled to God. When the Lord sends preachers,
they are sent, empowered, and speak for the Lord. I'm just a spokesman. I'm just
a voice. I'm a man that God has called
to preach the gospel. And this gospel is our gospel,
Paul says, but it's ours by the gift of God. It's His gospel.
It's the gospel of Jesus Christ. Now, let's consider that the
Lord has proclaimed, the Scripture says, unto the end of the world,
not only to all parts of the world, but until the end of in
time. We're sending to all the world,
you preach the gospel to all men. And Isaiah says, this is
the message, this is the proclamation that God's preachers. You say
to the daughter of Zion, you proclaim to a particular people,
I've got a message for God's people. Now who are these people?
Well, according to the scriptures, they're God's elect. They're
the bride of Christ. They're the strangers that are
scattered throughout all the world. Elect, according to the
foreknowledge of God the Father, given to the Lord Jesus Christ
from before the foundation of the world. You say to the daughter
of Zion, of the Holy City, And what do we say? Lord, what is
the message? Here's the message. Behold, thy
salvation cometh. Behold, his reward is with him,
and his work before him. Who is she? I know that the Lord
has a people. That's, it's scriptural. God
has an elect, elect. They're the ones that Christ
said, I'm praying for. That's John 17, 9. I pray not
for the world, but I pray for those that you've
given me out of the world. Thine they were, thou gavest
them me. I pray for them. All power is given unto the Son,
that He should give eternal life, this is 17.2, to as many as thou
hast given Him. Sheep. John 10.15, I lay down
my life for the sheep. The sheep. You say to the daughter
of Zion, Behold, thy salvation cometh. Where is she? Well, she's in every nation,
kindred, tribe, and tongue. She's scattered throughout all
this world. And I don't know who she is.
But the Lord does. And so what are we to do? You
to preach the gospel. I don't know. I don't know. who the Lord has everlastingly
loved. But I can tell you this, whoever they are, they're going
to hear the gospel of God's sovereign grace. They're going to hear
that message that Almighty God has everlastingly loved them.
And that Christ has everlastingly stood as their surety. And that
Christ has betrothed himself to her eternally. That she's always been in Him. And He died for her. Because
He loved her. And the Spirit of God is going
to bless that message. To God's sheep. The Lord said,
you tell the daughter of Zion. Who is she, Lord? You preach. I'll call her out. I'll bring
her to myself. You tell her thy salvation cometh. Salvation is not an event. I
know we think about that. I got saved. Salvation is a person. Thy salvation. He's coming. He's coming. Our salvation is
nearer now than when we first believed. We're a week closer. Our salvation coming than last
Sunday. And His reward is with Him. And
His work, His recompense, His reward is before Him. All of the promises are going
to be manifested to God's sheep. Who are you? You're heirs of
God. Joint heirs. joint heirs with
Christ. You know, there's times that
I, we just, we quote these scriptures and I just, there's times that
I just stop for just a second and I think, an heir of God,
a joint heir with Christ, and this scripture right here says,
that which He has earned by His obedience, by His sacrifice,
His reward. He's going to have her. He's
going to have her. And verse 12 says, And they shall
call them the holy people, the redeemed of the Lord, A people
that have been separated by God and for God. This is what it
means. Sanctified. Set apart. Separated. Out of the same lump, every man
and woman came forth. Were made out of the same lump. And before Almighty God ever
created. One man. Almighty God said, according
to his good purpose, Ephesians 1, you're mine. You're mine. I'm going to separate
you. Why would God do that? He did
it according to the purpose of his own will. What can we say? This is what
the Lord has said. Listen to Jude 1. Jude chapter
1 verse 1. Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ
and brother of James, to them that are sanctified by God the
Father and preserved in Jesus Christ and called. I'm so thankful. that Almighty
God would have mercy on His people. That's who He said, I'm going
to have mercy on. I'll have mercy and compassion on whomsoever
I will. And whomsoever I will, He said,
I'm going to harden. God is just. He's a just God
and a Savior. They shall call them the holy
people, the redeemed of the Lord. And thou shalt be called, now
listen to this, sought out. That's going to be your name.
Sought out. What's your name? Sought out.
Sought out. That's my name. A city not forsaken. And it's right here that the
Lord declares His people to be sought. I like the way, I thank
the Lord, let me say it like this, for the way He said this. She was sought out. He didn't
just say sought, though she was. She was sought out. It is a word that is diligent. Diligent search. I'll have to give you this illustration
I just thought of. I'll ask Glenda sometime, where's
so-and-so in the refrigerator? No, where's so-and-so? She'll
say in the refrigerator. I don't see it. And she'll come
over, looking at me, and just... She said, if it doesn't wave
to you, ask her. Ask her if she doesn't see it.
She said, Margaret, if it doesn't wave to you, you don't see it.
Sawed out. I was looking, but I just didn't
see it. She shall be called sought out. Why? Because she's a precious
possession. Nothing can hide us from the
preciousness of His love. No filth of sin can conceal us
from Him who loved us and gave Himself for us. The daughter
of Zion is His kingdom. Now, I want us to just look for
just a few minutes at Matthew chapter 13. Matthew 13 and verse
44. Matthew 13, 44. This is, I think,
a precious passage of Scripture, a parable that our Lord used
to prove what we just read in Isaiah 62. You tell the daughter
of Zion, she's a sought out city, not going to be forsaken, sought
out. Look at Matthew 13, 44 for a
few minutes. Again, the kingdom of heaven
is like unto a treasure hid in a field, the which when a man
hath found, he hideth. and for joy thereof goeth, and
selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field." Now, the
Lord's kingdom is his treasure. The Lord's kingdom, the kingdom
of heaven is like to a treasure. God's people, God's church, She's
a treasure and she's hid in a field. Now just look back up at verse
38, just a few verses back. The scripture tells us what the
field is. The field is the world. Now, where is the Lord's treasure? Well, she's hid, the scripture
says, in the world. Now, there's something I want
you to look at, just a second, where it says that the kingdom
of heaven is likened to a treasure hid in a field. The witch, when
a man hath found, he hideth..." See that word, hideth? It's the
same word. It's the same word, but it has
a little bit of a different meaning. Same word. But the word, hid,
the treasure that's hid in the field, that word means concealed. Concealed. Okay? But that other
word, hideth, it means to keep secret. One means that she's
concealed somewhere and the other word, hideth, it means to keep
something known secret. The treasure, the kingdom of
heaven is likened to a treasure that's hid in a field. Now here's
the treasure. It's concealed. in this world
hidden from the eyes of the world and
until conversion from even the eyes of the treasure herself before the Lord calls his people
out of darkness. Does she know who she is? Until the Lord revealed himself
to me I didn't know anything, and I'll be honest with you,
I didn't care. I did not care. I went to church because my mama
made me. And if I could think of a good
reason not to be there, I'd use it. I didn't care. But until
the Lord was pleased to show me himself, I was still kept. kept by the power of God. He
who would not let me perish. But the scripture says, the kingdom
of heaven, like unto a treasure concealed, the witch, when a
man hath found. It cannot be said that the Lord
discovered something. In time, that can't be. Because
God doesn't change. He's always known, but when it
pleased Him to manifest this to her. It's like when the Lord
says, deliver them from going down to the pit, I found a ransom.
You think God just discovered one day that there was a ransom?
No, when He was pleased to manifest. But this man, the witch, when
a man, and what man? could find the treasure, hid
in a field. But the God-man, the man Christ
Jesus, I can tell you this, the treasure couldn't find itself.
The treasure's dead. Dead in trespasses and sins.
Treasure's not looking for itself. It has the same attitude that
I do. It doesn't care. Perfectly satisfied. thinking
itself to be okay. Oh, but when the one who has
found the treasure, that is the one who eternally found her as
the gift of the Father, the one who found her as the bride, everlastingly. I can't speak eternal. I don't
know how to say it. I speak the words of God's Word.
When He was pleased to redeem his treasure. The scripture says,
he hideth. He hideth. Now there's that word
again, I was telling you, it means to keep secret. To keep
secret. He hideth. You know, when the
Lord Jesus Christ came into this world, the scripture said he
made himself of no reputation. He came into this world as a
root out of dry ground. Isaiah 53 says, He who hath no
form nor comeliness. That when we see Him, there was
no beauty in Him that we should desire Him. But He came into
this world and hideth. Why? Because there's a treasure
in the world. And they're His treasure. And He loves her. And He's going
to have her. He's going to redeem her. That's
the proclamation that the Lord told Isaiah, you make this proclamation. You're the redeemed of the Lord.
You're the sought out. You're the city not forsaken.
Hold your place right there for a second. Turn to Luke 10, 17.
Luke 10, 17. Here's this treasure. She's hid. She's concealed. Concealed from
herself and everybody else. The Lord knows. He found her.
Found her in electing grace. And He hideth. He keeps something
secret. What does He keep secret? He keeps it secret that He's
coming for her to everybody else except to her. There's the treasure
in the world, in the field, and he hideth, he comes secretly
to tell her something. Luke 10, 17, and the 70 returning
again with joy saying, Even the devils are subject unto us through
thy name. And he said unto them, I beheld
Satan as lightning fall from heaven. Behold, I give unto you
power to tread on serpents and scorpions over all the power
of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you. Notwithstanding, in this rejoice
not, that the spirits are subject unto you, but rather rejoice
because your names are written in heaven. He said, I'm going
to tell you something. I'm going to give you something to rejoice
about. You rejoice that God chose you before the foundation of
the world. You rejoice because your name
was written everlastingly. I told you how I grew up, you
know, being told that every time somebody gave their heart to
Jesus, that a recording angel wrote their name in the Lamb's
Book of Life. Show me that scripture. Show
me that scripture. No, I'll show you where those
names were written from before the foundation of the world.
They've always been there. There's no entries. There's no
new entries. The entries that were there eternally
are the entries that are there now. You rejoice because your
names are written in heaven in that hour. Jesus rejoiced in
spirit and said, I thank Thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and
earth, that Thou has hid these things from the wise and prudent
and has revealed them unto babes. Even so, Father, for so it seemed
good in Thy sight. You set forth to the daughter of Zion, the
sought-out one, that she's the redeemed of the Lord, the kept,
the kingdom of heaven like a treasure hid in a field, the which when
a man hath found, he hideth. And for joy thereof goeth and
selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field. For that,
for joy. For the joy that was set before
Him, the joy of finishing the work given Him by the Father,
the joy of the redemption and salvation of His people, for
the joy of saving, redeeming and saving her, He endured the
cross, despising the shame that is set down at the right hand
of the throne of God. For the joy, He goeth and selleth
all that He hath, and buyeth that field. What does
that mean? That means he gave himself. He
gave all. Came into this world, honored
the law, and laid down his life. Endured. Suffered. 2 Corinthians 8, 9, For ye know
the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet
for your sakes he sold all he had. He became poor. That ye through his poverty might
be rich, not that he was ever not the Lord, he was. But he
humbled himself. He said of himself, I am a worm. Lord, as you say, it is. He selleth all he hath and buyeth
that field. I thought you said the field
was the world. It is the world. I know it's the world. And I'll
tell you what, he made it He bought it by His precious blood. The earth is the Lord's and the
fullness thereof, the world and they that dwell in it. He bought
the field. He bought the world. Not in the
sense that He redeemed every man out of the world. It doesn't
say that. But by His obedience in death,
the Father giving Him power over all flesh that He should give
eternal life to as many as were given to Him, He has the right
to do whatsoever he pleases. I'll tell you this, if he leaves
one to himself in rebellion, he has the right to do that. Let me tell you where men make
a big, big mistake. They call into question God's
will. Apostle Paul said in Romans 9,
Who art thou? Oh man! Oh man! That reply is
against God. Shall the thing formed, say to
him that formed it, why have you made me thus? You give me
an answer. Oh, may the Lord deliver us from
that thought. I heard someone say one time,
when I get to heaven, I'm just going to ask the Lord, why did
you let this happen? I thought to myself, Are you kidding me? Do you realize? You stand before
God with that attitude. Romans 9.21, Hath not the potter
power over the clay of the same lump to make one vessel unto
honor and another unto dishonor? Matthew 20 verse 15, Is it not
lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? He bought the
field. Ezekiel 18 verse 4 says, Behold,
all souls are mine. As the soul of the father, so
also the soul of the son is mine. The soul that sinneth, it shall
die. A man is going to stand before God in himself or in a
substitute. And I'm going to tell you something,
His eternal destiny will be determined in that. Daughter of Zion, behold,
thy salvation cometh. Behold, His reward is with Him,
and His work before Him. Ye are the holy people of the
Lord, and thou shalt be called sought out. A city not forsaken. Lord, Bless the word to our hearts. Lord, give us understanding.
Lord, keep us from ourselves. Lord, keep us from the thoughts
of our arrogancy before you, for Christ's sake. Amen.