Give Him No Rest

Q: What does the Bible say about the urgency of salvation?

The Bible emphasizes the urgency of salvation, stating that no one is saved without being earnest about their sin and need for grace. The urgency of salvation is a central theme in Scripture, as illustrated in Isaiah 62. The chapter underscores that God will not hold His peace or rest until the righteousness of Zion and its salvation is made manifest. This urgency highlights that sinners, under the conviction of the Holy Spirit, must fervently pursue God's grace. Our Lord Jesus affirmed this urgency by saying, 'The kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.' Thus, salvation is not a passive endeavor; it requires a zealous heart and commitment to seeking Christ in the face of sin and eternity.

Q: How do we know God's purpose in salvation is true?

God's purpose in salvation is affirmed through His sovereign will, which ensures the salvation of His elect as a manifestation of His grace. God's purpose in salvation is anchored in His sovereignty and can be seen throughout Scripture. Isaiah 14:24-26 illustrates that as God has purposed, so it shall come to pass, demonstrating His control over all events, including the salvation of His elect. According to Ephesians 2:7, God's aim in salvation is to showcase His rich grace and mercy through Christ. This reveals that God's determined will ensures that His chosen people are redeemed, called, justified, and ultimately glorified, showcasing His grace not only to them but also to the entire world. Thus, the assurance of salvation flows from the faithfulness of God's eternal purpose.

Q: Why is proclaiming the gospel vital for Christians?

Proclaiming the gospel is essential as it is the means through which God calls His chosen and displays His glory. The necessity of proclaiming the gospel cannot be overstated, as it is the primary means by which God makes His grace known to the world. Isaiah 62 emphasizes that God's servants are like watchmen, tasked with sounding the alarm and directing sinners towards salvation. They are to remove obstacles that hinder people from coming to Christ, making the way clear. Moreover, the gospel proclaims the certainty of eternal life, justification, and acceptance through Christ's finished work. When Christians share the gospel, they fulfill God's command to proclaim His salvation, illustrating His mercy and grace to a lost world, thereby glorifying Him in the process.

Q: What does Isaiah 62 teach about God's delight in His people?

Isaiah 62 reveals that God delights in His people, calling them 'Hephzibah' (My delight is in her) as a reflection of His love and grace. In Isaiah 62, God expresses His deep delight in His people, illustrating a profound relationship built on grace. He names them 'Hephzibah,' meaning 'My delight is in her,' showcasing the transformative work of salvation which changes their status from forsaken to beloved. This is not based on their merit but solely on God's grace through Christ. As believers, we are esteemed as 'crown of glory' in His hand, meaning that God sees us as beautiful and valuable because of what Christ has accomplished on our behalf. God's delight in His people is emblematic of His unwavering commitment to redeeming and sanctifying us until we exemplify His holiness fully.

Q: How should Christians respond to God's call for urgency in faith?

Christians are called to respond with fervent prayer and diligent pursuit of God’s grace, reflecting the urgency of eternal matters. In light of God's call for urgency in faith, Christians should actively pursue a deeper relationship with Him through persistent prayer and earnest seeking of His grace. Isaiah 62:6-7 encourages believers to give God no rest, highlighting that fervent prayer is a means of participating in God's redemptive work. This response involves not only a personal urgency regarding salvation but also a communal responsibility to intercede for others. By recognizing the weighty nature of eternal matters, Christians are urged to avoid apathy and instead demonstrate an active faith that seeks to glorify God by sharing the gospel and living in accordance with His will.

Let's turn together to Isaiah chapter 62. Isaiah chapter 62. While you're turning, let me make a few words by way of introduction that you listen carefully. There is an urgency, an urgency about the things of God which makes half-heartedness, apathy, and indifference intolerable. There is an urgency about the things of God which makes half-heartedness, apathy, and indifference intolerable. Our Lord Jesus said on one occasion, The kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.

What on earth does that mean? It simply means this. Spiritual business is urgent business. Eternal matters are urgent matters. God Almighty is urgent in the accomplishment of his purposes. And sinners, under conviction of the Holy Spirit, are urgent in the pursuit of his grace. No one has ever been saved, and no one ever will. who was not urgent about his soul, urgent about his sin, urgent about eternity, urgent about Jesus Christ. The things of God demand urgency.

Isaiah chapter 62 speaks of this urgency. Let's read it together. For Zion's sake will I not hold my peace, for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest until the righteousness thereof go forth as brightness, and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burneth.

And the Gentiles, that is, the nations of the world, shall see thy righteousness, and all the kings thy glory. And thou shalt be called by a new name, which the mouth of the Lord shall make and thou shalt also be a crown of glory in the hand of the Lord, and a diadem in the hand of thy God. 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 Gila, for the Lord delighteth in thee, and thy land shall be 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.

I have set watchmen upon thy walls, O Jerusalem, which shall never hold their peace, day nor night. Ye that make mention of the Lord keep not silence, and give him no rest till he establish until he make Jerusalem a praise in the earth. The Lord hath sworn by his right hand, and by the arm of his strength, surely I will no more give thy corn to be meat for thine enemies. And the sons of the stranger shall not drink thy wine, for the which thou hast labored, but they that have gathered it shall eat it, and praise the and they that have brought it together shall drink it in the courts of my holiness.

Go through, go through the gates, prepare ye the way of the people, cast up, cast up the highway, gather out the stones, lift up the standard for the people. 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 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."

Now, like so many passages before this in the book of Isaiah, this chapter refers, of course, to the deliverance of Israel out of Babylonian captivity. It is a picture of the deliverance of our souls by the Lord Jesus Christ from sin and death and the curse and dominion of the law. The Babylonian captivity and the deliverance of Israel out of that captivity was purposed by God and designed by God to be a type, a representation, a picture, a shadow of our redemption and salvation through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.

So as we look at the text this evening, I'm going to look at it just in that light. I'm certain that none of us here are too much interested in the history of the nation of Israel physically, but we are, I hope, interested in God's Israel, the Church of God, and interested in the business of redemption, salvation, and grace.

The title of my message you will find in verse 7, Give Him No Rest. I've got to tell it. Lindsay asked me tonight what I was going to be preaching on. He was picking out the songs, and I said, give him no rest. He said, that's Diane's motto. That's not the way I'm taking this. That's not my subject tonight. I'm going to deal with something else altogether. But I had to tell it. Now the world knows, Diane. You can pin it on your refrigerator. Okay. I want to show you three things this evening.

In this passage, the Prophet is showing us God's determination, and it is the everlasting salvation of his people. for the glory of his name, and that ought to be our determination, too. First, we will look at the work purposed in verses 1-5. Then in verses 6-9, the watchman placed, and then in the last three verses, the word proclaimed. In verses 1-5, the Holy Spirit reveals the work purposed, the work which God purposed to do from eternity. Now, here it says in verse 1, For Zion's sake will I not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest.

I will not hold my peace and I will not rest until the righteousness thereof, that is, the righteousness of my church, the righteousness of my people, the righteousness of those sinners who are saved by my grace, until the righteousness of Zion and Jerusalem go forth as brightness. and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burneth, so that everybody sees the righteousness of Christ imputed and imparted to his people in their ultimate salvation and glory. And the Gentiles shall see thy righteousness, and the kings, all the kings, thy glory, and thou shalt be called by a new name, which the mouth of the Lord shall name. Thou shalt also be a crown of glory in the hand of the and a royal diadem in the hand of thy God, thou shalt no more be termed forsaken, neither shall thy land any more be termed desolate, but thou shalt be called Hezebub, and thy land Beulah, for the Lord delighteth in thee, and thy land shall be married. For as a young man marries a virgin, so shall thy sons marry thee, and as the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride, so shall thy God rejoice over thee."

Now there's some question as to whether the one speaking here is God himself or his servant, the prophet Isaiah, that one who is writing the book of Isaiah. But it really doesn't matter whether we interpret the passage as referring to God himself speaking or referring to the prophet Isaiah speaking, because there's a good message both ways. And when you look at the passage you will find clear instruction given if you interpret it either way. So let's read the passage as being both a message from God's own mouth and a message from the mouth of God's prophet. And let's see what it says.

First understand that God's purpose in this world is the full glorious salvation of his elect and the everlasting public display of our salvation for his glory. The Lord our God is a God of purpose. And the purpose of God in the world, the purpose of God in time, the purpose of God in all things is the saving of his people. Oh, God teach us that. God teach us that.

I read that passage in Matthew 14 and spoke of the storms and difficulties that arise in his prayer, and we need to learn this. We meet God's sins, storms, and God's sins, trials, and God's sins, difficulties, but God's purpose, God's purpose in everything is the saving of his elect. I want you to look at a couple of passages of scripture with me. Turn back to Isaiah 14. Isaiah chapter 14.

If there's anything in the world, if there's anything in time, if there's anything that can be imagined that should somehow have been of concern to God, that should have somehow been of any uneasiness to God, if I could use such phraseology, it would have been the rebellion of Satan and the fall of the heavenly angels. Satan said, I will lift up my throne and I will be as the Most High God. I'll take God's place in this world. And Satan attempted to overthrow God. Now this is God's response to Satan's haughtiness.

Isaiah 14, verse 24. The Lord of hosts hath sworn, saying, Surely as I have thought, so shall it come to pass. And as I have purpose, so shall it come. Do you see the ease, the tranquility? the serenity of God in his sovereignty. If we believe him, we ought to be just that way. Just that way. Verse 25.

That I will break the Assyrian in my land, and upon my mountains tread him underfoot. Then shall his yoke depart from off them, and his burden shall depart off their shoulders. God says, I'm going to save my people. I'm going to save my people. Look at verse 26.

This is the purpose that is purposed upon the whole earth. And this is the hand that is stretched out upon all the nations, for the Lord of hosts hath purposed, and who shall disannul it? His hand is stretched out, and who shall turn it back?" This is God's purpose, by which he rules all providence, that those whom he has foreknown in everlasting love, and predestinated to be conformed to the image of his Son, whom he has called and justified and glorified, shall at last be with him in glory and the perfection of everlasting salvation. That's God's purpose.

The time is coming. You can read Revelation chapter 19 and see how God's going to wrap everything up. When the great poor is judged and the wicked are cast into hell, the saints of God will lift up their voices in a song of praise and say, Alleluia, Alleluia, the Lord God omnipotent reigneth, and they will sing of God's salvation. So God's purpose in everything he does God's purpose in everything that comes to pass. God's purpose from beginning to the end of time is the saving of his people.

That we should be at last brought before all the world, standing before God in trophies of his grace, so that he shows in all of his people the righteousness and the holiness and the beauty that he has put upon them, so that the nations of the world and the kings of the world stand back and say, Look what God has done for these people.

God purposed from eternity to publish righteousness to all the world. He says, I will not hold my peace for Jerusalem's sake. I will not rest until the righteousness therefore go forth. And the Gentiles shall see thy righteousness. So that there is a sense here in which we may say, it is God's purpose that the gospel be preached to all nations. God's purpose that the message of free grace be published to all men. And he will show all the people, even the kings of the earth, the glory of his people. Turn back to Ephesians 2. Hold your hands here in Isaiah, but look at Ephesians 2, verse 7.

Paul's talking about what God's done for us by his grace. God who is rich in mercy for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ By grace are you saved. In verse 6 it says, he hath raised us up together and made us set together in heavenly places in Christ. Now look at verse 7.

The first word, that. In other words, this is God's object in saving you. This is God's object in all that he's done for you. This is God's purpose. That in the ages to come, he might show the exceeding riches of his grace. in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. That's why God does what he does. That's what God's doing in this world. He's determined to show forth the riches of his grace in us.

And soon he will give his people, all of us, a new name. A new name. Now there are many references to this new name in the scriptures. Revelation 2, Revelation chapter 3, many references given. But right here in the context, the prophet explains to us what he's talking about.

We have been known as forsaken and desolate. That's by reason of sin and rebellion and belief. Forsaken, left to go. Desolate, empty, empty. If you've ever experienced it in your soul, you know what I'm talking about. If you haven't, you can't possibly know.

A man convicted of his sin, a man aware in his own heart and conscience of his guilt before God, his helplessness, his depravity and his corruption, he's one who's shut out from heaven, forsaken, because he's forsaken God and desolate, itte, nothing in him, nothing of worth, nothing of value, nothing good, nothing righteous, nothing but sin, itte, itte. But now, the Lord God comes in his grace. and he imbibes to us the righteousness of his Son. He removes from us the guilt of our sin. And he says in verse 4, you're going to be called etzibah.

If you have a marginal reference in your Bible, that means my delight is in her. Oh, can it be? Can it be that God delights in me? Can it be that God in heaven, in his holiness, in his purity, in his righteousness, looks on this man and looks on me with delight? Indeed it is, because I'm his in Christ Jesus the Lord. He looks on me and delights in me. He looks on you, my brother, my sister, with delight, not because of what we do, not because of what we are, not because of some imaginary personal goodness or worth, but because of Christ his Son, he looks on us and delights in us. And her name shall be called Beulah. That is, married. We were divorced from him, alienated from him, separated from him, but now we've been to him, committed to him by his free grace.

And the Lord will make us to be in his hand a crown of glory and a royal diadem. This third verse is real interesting. Notice how it reads, Thou shalt also be a crown of glory in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand of thy God. The text does not say, Thou shalt be a crown of glory upon the head of the Lord, and a royal diadem upon the head of your God. as though somehow we added something to God's glory, or add something or contribute something to God's royal beauty.

That's an utter impossibility. God doesn't need us. When you take a crown and put it on someone's head, you're giving them something they didn't have before. When you take a diadem and use it to adorn someone, you're placing upon them a beauty that they somehow need to complete themselves.

But we're seated here to be a crown in his hand, a royal diadem in his hand. He has made us to be a crown of glory and us to be a diadem of beauty by his hand. It's his doing that we are made to be such, and we are his crown and his glory, his beauty and his delight, because he's made us to be such. If we translate and understand these words to be God's own words, we must be utterly amazed by this fact. The Lord God Almighty is urgent about the business of saving his people.

He says, I will not hold my peace. I will not rest until this purpose is accomplished. God speaks of himself in language so as to make us understand this is the consuming passion of his heart. If we can use human terms to talk about it, this is the thing that fills his vision, this is the thing that focuses his mind, this is the thing upon which his heart is set. He says, I'll not rest, I'll not hold my peace until this is done. More than that, if we understand this as being the words of God's prophet, We've had before us a clear example of what a preacher ought to be. A man devoted to the purpose of God, the people of God, and the glory of God.

I want to say this to you. God should be pleased to call any of you men to preach the gospel. You young men, if God's pleased to give you faith in Christ and call you to preach the gospel of his grace, listen to me now, listen to me. Don't even pretend to think about being a preacher. Don't even pretend to think about calling yourself a preacher unless you're prepared to commit yourself to this business in totality, in absolute totality. So that your life, your family, everything about you is devoted to this business of preaching God's gospel for the glory of God's name and the saving of God's people.

The preacher is to be a man of one thing. Of one thing. Preaching. Preaching. Turn to 1 Timothy chapter 4. Let me read it to you one more time. 1 Timothy chapter 4. I can't stress it enough. I can't emphasize it enough. I don't know how on this earth to make folks understand it, but preaching is not a part-time job. Preaching is not a sideline. Preaching is not something that you do when you don't have time to do something else. Preaching is not something you do in your leisure time. Preaching is something a man gives himself to, or he's not a preacher.

He gives himself to it. Listen to what Scripture says here. 1 Timothy 4, verse 12. Paul says to Timothy, let no man despise thy youth. In other words, don't act like a boy. But be thou an example of the believers in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity.

Till I come, give attendance to reading. What's the preacher doing? He better be reading. That's what he's supposed to do, read, study. Read, study, read, study. That's what preachers are supposed to do. I had a fellow tell me one time, he said, I just don't like to study. I said, you better find something else to do. And I'm dead serious. A preacher's got to be a man given to the study of the word.

To exhortation, that is to teaching folks, both personally and in the pulpit, exhorting folks in the faith, exhorting folks to walk with God, exhorting folks to obedience, to doctrine, to doctrine. Well, I don't want to listen to a doctrinal preacher. Well, if you listen to God's preacher, you're going to listen to a doctrinal preacher. God's servants teach men doctrine. They don't teach mere, dry, dead, orthodox principles. They teach the doctrine of the crucified Savior, but they teach false doctrine. The doctrine is the teaching. That's what the word means. And those who preach the gospel teach men and women the truths of the gospel.

Neglect not the gift that is in thee. The wise man said a man's gift will make room for him. You men and women have your gifts, and your gifts are your responsibility in this world and in the kingdom of God. See that you use them well. It's not pride or arrogance to recognize the gift God's given you. Whatever gift you have, use it for God's glory.

I'm gifted as a preacher. That's my gift. God's called me to the work. He's given me understanding in his word. He's given me the ability to communicate it to you. And I dare not neglect it. Don't neglect this privilege, this responsibility God's given you. Which was given thee by prophecy with the laying on of the hands of the Presbyterian. Meditate upon these things. Now look at the next line.

Give thyself wholly to them. to them, that thy profiting may appear to all, that is, so that your profit may be made manifest to everyone. Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine continuing them, for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself and them that hear thee."

The preacher says, I will not hold my peace. I will not hold my God's chosen are all saved. I will not rest until God's elect are glorified. It will not happen. That's the business of God's preaching. So that the servant of God, throughout the days of his life, sacrifices everything to the business of gospel preaching. Everything. Everything. I know I hear folks talk otherwise, but I'm telling The man who preaches the gospel must sacrifice wife and family for the cause of Christ in great measure.

I'm a husband, I love my wife. I'm a father, and I love my daughter. And I wouldn't neglect either one of them for anything except Christ. And I've had to neglect both of them in great measure over the years so that I give myself to this business. And that's not saying anything with regret.

That's the way they want it. That's the way I want it. That's the way it's got to be. Got to be. So that the servant of God says, I will not hold my peace. I will declare God's truth. I will give myself to this business with no rest. With no rest. I'll not cease from the work. I'll not be turned aside from the work. Not for anybody, not for anything until God's purpose is accomplished.

Second, in verses six, through nine, the Lord God speaks to us as his people about his servants. He speaks of them as the watchman placed by him upon the walls of Jerusalem. I have set watchmen upon thy walls, O Jerusalem, which shall never hold their peace, day nor night. That is, in bright times and in dark times, in good times and in bad times. ye that make mention of the Lord, that is, you who are the remembrances of the Lord, keep not silence, and give him no rest. What? Give God no rest? Give him no rest till he establish If he make Jerusalem a praise in the earth, the Lord hath sworn by his right hand and by the arm of his strength, Surely I will no more give thy corn to be meat for thine enemies.

And the sons of the stranger shall not drink of thy wine, for 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. Lord God makes a promise in Jeremiah chapter 3 verse 15. He says, I will give you pastors according to my heart which shall feed you with knowledge and with understanding. What a blessed gift God gives to his people, men whom he has set in the place where he would have them, whom he has gifted to feed them with the word, with knowledge, and with understanding, with knowledge of his word, his character, his truth, and understanding of your needs. Feeds you with knowledge and with understanding.

Now, God's servants, gospel preachers, are watchmen. Watchmen. Sentinels, guards, set upon the walls of Jerusalem That is set upon the walls of his church. This picture is certainly not one to be taken literal. It's a spiritual picture. It's a picture of what we are.

In ancient days cities had walls built around them and when folks would turn in at night and they'd go to sleep that had watchmen set, and when there were times of danger, they had watchmen along the walls who watched continually, shift after shift, watching for the enemy to approach, watching for the enemy to come and break in upon the city. And the watchman's duty was clear. When he saw the enemy coming, he should blow the trumpet and give warning so that man himself may be prepared for the coming of the enemy. And if the watchman refused to do so, if he was negligent at his post, the death of those who died was required at his hand.

And that's the picture God gives over and over again in the scripture. His servants are watchmen. I'm here to watch over your souls. You who are unbelievers, to warn you. God is full there. Just and true. He will punish sin. He will punish sin. And there's only one way to escape the wrath of God. And that's to flee to Jesus Christ, the Son of God. There's no other way. I warn you, I urge you to hear me. Don't be negligent with regard to your soul. Don't be negligent with regard to eternity. Don't be negligent or apathetic with regard to judgment to come. It's an absolute certainty. Flee the wrath to come. But I'm also here as a watchman for you who are believers. If you read the Song of Solomon carefully, you'll notice that the watchmen are referred to over and over again.

The Watchmen are those who are set to protect the Church of God from heresy, strife and division, the evil that would destroy. The Watchmen are those who take away the veil of the excuses for sin and unbelief and coldness. The Watchmen expose your sin.

I would be less than faithful to your soul if I didn't do so. The watchman, the watchman show what you are. The watchman say, look to the Savior. The watchman continually turn yourself away from you back to Christ the Redeemer. That's the business of the watchman. And God's watchmen are placed by him upon the walls of his church.

I had a young man a week or so ago talking to me about aspirations for the ministry. And I said to him, so hard to get fellows to hear this, I said to him, don't announce to anybody God's called you to preach. Don't do that. Don't do that. That's a mistake. Because then you put yourself in a box. You got to go do it. And it's an embarrassment if you don't. Don't announce to anybody God's called you to preach.

If God wants you for his servant, he knows where you are. He knows where you are. And God will put you where he wants you. But we must wait for God to place his servants where he wants them. A man who runs without being sent is a man who runs to mischief. That man who is sent of God and placed of God, he is set there and nothing can move him. He's God's servant. God's put him there. All right? The business of the preacher as a watchman basically involves these three things. And these three things are things about which he must be incessant. I've already hinted at them. He must speak to the people for God.

Keep not silence. Hold not their peace. Day or night. I can't begin to tell you how weightier burden that is, upon my soul. I tell you, because I want you to pray for me, not only when I preach to you, but as I go elsewhere to preach, and not just for me, my soul, for God's servants wherever they're found. I want you to be concerned for them and care for them and pray for them. I have a responsibility here, tonight, right now, to speak to eternity bound men and women for God Almighty, for God Almighty. You will observe that I never joke about it. I never speak lightly of it. Somebody said, well, you take yourself too serious. I can't take myself serious enough.

I've got to speak to eternity bound souls for God. Not only that, but it is the watchman's business constantly to be a remembrancer of the Lord. Constantly to keep in your memory Jesus Christ and him crucified. Keep in your memory who he is and what he's done and what he's doing. That's my constant business. That's my constant business.

It's not the business of the preacher to entertain folks with theories. It's not the business of the preacher to penalize folks with his learning. It's not the business of the preacher to somehow delve into mysteries and conjectures about this thing and that. It's the business of the preacher, when folks come in, sit down, open their ears and open their hearts to tell them about Christ.

That's the business. If I don't do that, if somehow, if I haven't directed your hearts to Jesus Christ, when you come in here, I have not done my job. I've not done what I'm supposed to do. That's my business. I know it pretty good. I know exactly what it is. I was preaching a while back. A fella came up to me after I got done preaching one night. Civil engineer. No, chemical engineer. Chemical engineer. He came up to me and started to give me some instruction about preaching.

You know what? Oh, I wanted to choke him. I wanted to choke him. I thought to myself, well, you idiot, who are you? Tell me something about preaching. I've been doing it most of my life. But every mother's son thinks they know what preaching is all about. So if I would walk up to a chemical engineer, go into his lab and start telling him what to do, he'd look at me and kind of laugh. And so I got up and killed him, and I just kind of laughed. Boy, you idiot!

The preacher's business is to hold up Christ before men, to speak to eternity-bound sinners concerning the things of God and the things of eternity. And it's his business to plead with God for his peace. The prophet says, give him no peace. Give no rest to God until he establish, till he make Jerusalem a praise in the earth. He's talking about prayer, real prayer.

I don't talk a great deal about it because God forgive me, I just don't know a whole lot about it. I don't pretend to. But I know there's prayer is not repeating words. Prayer is not an exercise in religious ritualism. Prayer is not just asking God for what I want. Prayer is with a heart with desperate need, crying out to God to meet that need. That's what prayer is.

And believing he'll do it. Believing he'll do it. And so the Lord God commands us to give him no rest, to give him no rest, but with importunity, crying after him by day and by night, that he would be merciful and gracious according to his gracious word. And then we are assured by God's own oath and God's own promise that he will indeed save his people.

That's what verses eight and nine are about. It's a picture of God's grace and mercy. Though we have been robbed of Satan, stripped to sin and condemned by God's holy law. Though we have nothing and our enemies have carried us into captivity, spiritually, though we are bankrupt sinners, in Jesus Christ we have all and abound. And in the days to come when we shall stand at last in the courts of our God, in the courts of his holiness, he will lead us himself and feed us He will cause us to drink at the fountains of living water and feed us with the bread of life.

That's the promise of the book. Thirdly, the message we are sent to preach, the work God's servants are sent into this world to proclaim and perform, is not at all ambiguous, it's not at all hazy or something that's difficult to understand, but it's perfectly clear. In verses 10 through 12, We see the word proclaimed.

The Lord God says, go through. Go through the gates. Prepare you the way of the people. Prepare you the way. Test up. Test up the highway. Gather out the stones. Lift up the standard before the people. In other words, this is our business. To show sinners the way. Just show them the way. You fellows who preach here, and teach here. That's what it's all about. Just show folks the way. Just show them the way. It's so simple.

Take every impediment out of the way that keeps sinners from coming to Christ. That would impede sinners from looking to Christ. Just take away those things that Satan throws in the way by which he would keep men from coming and show them the way. It's perfectly clear. We're to remove the stones, to fill up the low places, and to take out those things that would impede a person's progress.

I read years ago, I don't remember whether it was Spurgeon or Gill, one of the fellows had written concerning the cities of refuge, and it was the business and responsibility of each of those cities to see to it that the way into the city was perfectly clear.

And they had road crews that would go out and they'd take up the debris. If there was a valley, they'd level the valley. If there was a hill, they'd level that hill. If there was sticks or stones or trees falling over in the way, they'd move those things out of the way. So that the man who was a manslayer fleeing to the city of refuge would have no obstacle in his way. But he could get there just as easy as pie. That's what a picture's supposed to do. Clear up the way. Just clear up the way.

I can't save your soul. I can't give you faith in Christ. I can't cause you to come to Christ. But I can take some of the stones out of the way. I am here to take away the stones that would keep you from coming to Him, to clear up the brush, to cut away the undergrowth of man's defamed mind so that you see clearly that the way of life is faith in Christ.

Just believe in Jesus. Just believe in Jesus. It'd be so helpful if preachers would quit trying to tell sinners what it is to believe and just call on them to believe. Quit trying to explain what it is to come to Christ, just tell them to come. I found out, I found out, if God ever gives you faith, you'll know what it is. If God gives you repentance, you'll know what it is. You won't need somebody telling you now, now this is how you ought to pray.

Brother Sonny Duke and his daughter, he and Karen's daughter, Jennifer, was coming to the services out there at Morgan Hill. They watch our videotapes every Sunday. She and her daughters come and listen, and she kept talking to Sonny. She says, but I don't understand. How do I believe? Sonny said, I can't tell you.

Just listen, and if God gives you faith, you'll believe. And she heard a message on Sunday, She went home, she's gone a little while, gone a few days, and she came back next week, and God had given her faith. God had given her life, and she believes.

It's just that simple. Those who are called of God believe. It's the preacher's business just to show you the way. The way is look. and live. The way is believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Thou shalt be saved. The way is come to Christ. The way is repent. The way is walk with him. The way is to follow him. That's all. Jesus Christ and him crucified, he is the way.

We're to preach up the Lord Jesus Christ. God's servants are to talk about him. Look at verse 11. Behold the Lord hath proclaimed unto the end of the world, Say ye to the daughter of Zion, Behold thy salvation coming. That's Jesus Christ. He is God's salvation. He is God's salvation all by himself. Behold his reward is with him. What is it?

Eternal life. Justification. Forgiveness. Acceptance with God. Righteousness. His reward is with him. He brings it in. His works before him. God gave him his work in the covenant of grace. He came here and performed his work, redeeming his people. Seated on the throne of glory, he's still doing his work. He's saving his people from their sins.

And we're to preach to sinners the certain results of Christ's finished work. This is not a matter of conjecture. This is a matter of absolute certainty. Those people who are chosen redeemed and called by the Lord our God shall be called, look at it in verse 12. I'll give this to you and we'll come back to it another time. The holy people. The holy people. Saints of God. Holy. Holy. Holy. Not because They're better than other folks. They're not. They know it. They'll gladly confess it.

But because they're in Christ, washed in his blood, moved in his righteousness, God declares they're holy. And when God gets done with us, Lindsay Campbell, we're going to be perfectly holy. Perfectly holy. Not just Judicially holy. Perfectly holy. Not just declared holy, but holy. Holy. The redeemed of the Lord. There's a sermon in that. Ron was talking about particular redemption before the service. There's some folks who are called the redeemed of the Lord, some folks who aren't.

These folks have been bought. They've been bought. They shall be called sought out, sought out. We were lost, he sought us out. We were perishing, he sought us out. We were hiding, he sought us out. He came like he came to Adam and said, we're out of town, he sought us out. And when he seeks you out, he fetches you home, he sought us out. A city not forsaken.

God said, I'll never leave thee, nor forsake thee. And he never has, and he never will. He never has, he never will. When John Newton was an old man, he said to one of his friends, he said, my memory's almost gone, but I can remember two things. I remember that I'm a great sinner, and Jesus Christ is a great Savior. That's the message. We're great sinners. By nature, desolate, empty, forsaken. By grace, holy, the redeemed of the Lord, sought out. In the light of the Lord, married to the Lord, a people Jesus Christ is a great Savior.

Give Him No Rest

What does the Bible say about the urgency of salvation?

How do we know God's purpose in salvation is true?

Why is proclaiming the gospel vital for Christians?

What does Isaiah 62 teach about God's delight in His people?

How should Christians respond to God's call for urgency in faith?

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Give Him No Rest

What does the Bible say about the urgency of salvation?

How do we know God's purpose in salvation is true?

Why is proclaiming the gospel vital for Christians?

What does Isaiah 62 teach about God's delight in His people?

How should Christians respond to God's call for urgency in faith?

Sermon Transcript

About Don Fortner

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