Turn back to Isaiah 49. I saw this text and spoke from
it before, but there was no way I was going to put this all in
30 minutes. In the first few verses, and
I'm going to go back and just make some quick statements for
those that weren't here in Sunday school. Verses 1-4, the nations
are exhorted to hear God's Messiah and Prophet. This one that Isaiah
speaks of. Listen, O Isles unto me, and
hearken, ye people, from far. The Lord hath called me from
the womb, from the bowels of my mother hath he made mention
of my name. And he hath made my mouth like
a sharp sword, and the shadow of his hand hath he hid me, and
made me a polished shaft, and his quiver hath he hid me. And
said unto me, Thou art my servant, O Israel, in whom I will be glorified. This is Christ, the One who would
come and glorify the Father. And then I said, I've labored
in vain, I've spent my strength for naught and in vain, yet surely
my judgment's with the Lord and my work's with my God." I mentioned
in Sunday School that the Lord's acceptance among the Jews would
not be very much, but he was not disheartened. He said his
judgment was with the Lord and his work was with his God. In
verses 5 through 8 we see more identification of who this one
is, this Messiah. And now, saith the Lord, that
form me from the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob again
to him, though Israel be not yet gathered, yet I will be glorious
in the eyes of the Lord, and my God shall be my strength.
And the Father said, It is a light thing that thou shouldest be
my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore and
preserve Israel. I will also give thee for a light
to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the ends
of the earth." This one who was coming, this man, would be the
salvation of God through all time. Through all time. To the
ends of the earth, no matter where anybody is, this is the
Savior. And verse 8 says, I heard thee
in an acceptable. Verse 7 said, Thus saith the
Lord, the Redeemer of Israel and His Holy One, to him whom
man despises. This is describing Christ. This
one that the nations aboard. This one who was a servant to
rulers, who was made of a woman, made under the law, was obedient
to his mother and father and civil authorities. Kings are
going to rise and princes shall worship, because the Lord that
is faithful and the Holy One of Israel, he shall choose thee.
Though thee would be the stone that would be rejected of the
builders, he would be chosen of God, the Chosen One. Thus
saith the Lord in an acceptable time, I have heard thee. Our
Lord was heard of the Father. Everything he prayed, everything
he sought from the Father was heard of the Father. Father,
I will that those whom thou hast given me be with me where I am.
You can write it down. God Almighty is going to give
every one of those that the Son's been given, they're going to
be with Him. They're going to be with Him. In the day of salvation, I've
helped thee, the Father said. I've helped you. I'll preserve
you. I'm going to preserve you. Our Lord was preserved throughout
His life on this earth, and I'm going to give thee for a covenant
of the people, and I'm going to establish the earth because
of you." This world exists, and this is what we handle in Sunday
school, for the sake of the Son of God and for the sake of His
people. You know, that's the only reason. And it's going to
continue to exist until He causes him to inherit all the desolate
heritages. Wherever in the world one of
God's elect is sitting, God Almighty is going to Send the gospel and
call that man or that woman and save their souls. Now, this one
was given to the Father here. Verses 9 through 12, we are going
to see, and this is what I want you to see, the full and complete
redemption of His entire kingdom, the success of the Savior. I
love it because in this verse, these verses, you're going to
see that these people He came to die for are going to be fed,
they're going to be led, they're going to be preserved. Listen, that I've given you to
establish the earth, to inherit the desolate places that thou
shouldest say to the prisoners, go forth. We read that in Isaiah
61, this one who will free the prisoners, setting the captives
free. The Spirit of the Lord is upon
me to proclaim liberty to the captives and the opening of prison
to them that are bound. that thou mayest say here to
the prisoners, go forth." Not just come out, but go forth.
You know, in this verse we see something about the Lord's people.
The Lord's people are in prison. We come into this world in prison.
By nature we are sinners, just like everybody else. We are children
of wrath, just like everybody else. We are ate up with it. Ignorance. Ignorance is what
we come into this world with. Just absolutely ate up with it.
locked up in prison under the power of sin, under the dominion
of sin, under the guilt of sin, and obligated to the very punishment
of sin, unless God Almighty does something for us. No. We're obliged
to it. We are slaves in body and soul,
imprisoned in our hearts by a heart that hates God by nature. I know people don't think that's
the way they are. My dear old mama wasn't that way. Your mama
hated God. And you hated God until God Almighty
did something for you. We are enmity. We're not just
at enmity. We are enmity by nature, Scripture
teaches. And we were held fast, chained
to the very foundations of the prison. We were chained with
massive chains to the very foundation of the prison. The law of God
chained us there. There was no escape. This one,
this ordained one of the Father was given as a covenant head,
as a surety that he might say, that he might say to the prisoner,
go forth. I love it. You're set at liberty. You're set at liberty. See, the
gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ is a proclamation of liberty.
We know the truth, and the truth makes us free. It's through the
gospel. And because of the Son of God
that we are brought into what the scripture calls the glorious
liberty of the children of God. I love that. The glorious liberty
of the children of God. I mentioned he didn't just say
come out. Come out. He didn't say that. You know
when Abraham Lincoln freed the slaves, a lot of them just hung
around the plantation, didn't know what to do. It's all they've
known all their lives. They just couldn't leave their
masters. But our Lord, He makes His intentions known when He
frees the prisoners. He says, go forth. Get the heck
out of here. You understand? Go forth! Go forth. You're free from sin.
You are no longer under its guilt or its condemnation. You are
free from the law. All happy condition. Jesus has
bled. And there's remission. We're
free. free as a result of this one who was coming. We can walk
at liberty with all the privileges of a blood-bought child of God. I'm telling you, that's beyond
comprehension. That's beyond our comprehension.
I think sometimes we just take it for granted. We have been
bought by the blood of the Son of God, and we're free. And when
He sees me, He sees the blood of the Lamb. He sees me as worthy,
and I'm telling you today, And I never feel comfortable in the
pulpit because I know I'm not worthy to be able to speak for
God Almighty, but in Christ I am. In Christ I am. He sees me as worthy. And listen,
it goes on here. And to them that were in darkness,
show yourselves. In darkness. You know, we sat
in darkness. That's what one of the prophets
said to them that sat in darkness. We'd lost all hope. We were chained. We weren't up trying to get out
of there. We knew better. We knew better. Just sitting
in darkness. And this one comes and says...
My mom used to say this to me in the mornings. She used to
say it, but she was misquoting it. Isaiah 60, verse 1. Look at that. You probably heard this. This
was an old expression from some generations back. Rise and shine,
for thy light is come." Rise and shine, Daniel. Rise and shine. "'Your light is come, and the
glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. For behold, darkness shall
cover the earth, and gross darkness the people. But the Lord shall
rise on thee, and his glory shall be seen on thee. And the Gentiles
shall come to thy light, and to the kings the brightness of
thy rising. He says, go forth and show yourselves,
you that sit in darkness. Show yourselves. Come on out
here. Let's have a good look at you. That's what he's saying.
Let's have a good look at you. The glory of the Lord has arisen
upon you. Come out. Show yourselves. You are a light. You are the
light of the world. A city set on a hill that cannot
be hid. That's what our Lord said. What
does it mean here to show yourselves? Confess Him. You remember what our Lord told
those men? Those men, those lepers that were healed? He healed them
and He said, now you go show yourselves to the priest. You go show yourselves. Offer
the offering that Moses told you to offer. Why was that? You
go show yourselves. God Almighty has done something
for you. You go show yourselves. That's
what he's saying. You come forth and go show yourselves. Let it
be known. You are one of those set at liberty. And listen, I want to tell you
something about these people. They shall feed in the ways. See that
in the text? Wherever they go, there's going
to be food for them. These freed ones shall never
hunger, never thirst. You'll see that in a moment.
And their pasture shall be in all high places wherever they
go. No matter how high the mountains
are, you know, you don't find a lot of food on the top of those
mountains. Those craggy mountain tops, I don't care how high the
mountain is, they're going to feed on that mountain. Because
God Almighty is going to see to it. Where there normally isn't
any food, these people are going to be fed, they're going to be
led, you're going to see that, and you're going to see they're
going to be preserved. Verse 10, they shall not hunger nor
thirst. Our Lord said, if you eat of
this bread, you're never hungry again. You drink of the water
that I give, you're never going to thirst again. Our Lord puts
an end to these things. Those that hunger and thirst
after righteousness are going to have righteousness by looking
to Him. They're going to be fed by His Word. Fed by Him. All
their days, neither shall the heat of the sun snipe them. They're
going to be preserved. That's what that's talking about.
You remember when the Jews walked through the Old Testament days,
when they were roaming out there in the wilderness. They were
preserved from the sun. They had a cloud, actually. The
pillar of fire that led them at night also formed a cloud
that covered them and protected them during the day in the heat
of the sun. These people are not going to
be smitten. That's talking about, it's a spiritual language for
the fact that you and I are going to be preserved by God Almighty.
He's saying to that. I love it. And we'll be led,
listen, we're going to be led, for he that hath mercy on them
shall lead them, even to the springs of water shall he guide
them. Always, our Savior, our Shepherd,
our Deliverer, this One who freed us from the prison, this One
who told us to confess and show This same one shall always supply
everything that's necessary for a child of God in this world. Look at Romans 8.32. You know, at times you have doubts
about these things. And I know, I do too. But here's
a verse that ought to put this to rest. It ought to. Listen to Romans 8.32. Verse 31 says, What shall we
then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be
against us? Now listen to this verse. He
that spared not his own son, but delivered him up for us all,
how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? If he spared not his son, what
do you reckon? Any one of these free ones is
ever going to lack. My wife told me recently she
heard Todd preach a message and she couldn't remember all that
Todd said, but I guess one of the things he pointed out was
that sometimes you ask people how they're doing and they'll
say, well, it could be worse. But the fact is, if you're one
of God's children, it can't be better. You understand? He knows your needs and just
exactly the way you are and the situation you're in is exactly
the right medicine. That's a fact. Well, verse 11,
and look at this. I will make all my mountains
away and my highways shall be exalted. I love how the Lord
takes credit for this. I will make all my mountains.
God Almighty made the mountains. I know you hear people talk about
how the glaciers moved and this and that. God Almighty made the
mountains. They were His mountains. They
are His mountains. These obstacles that have been
placed on the earth have caused a lot of problems over the years
for men trying to get somewhere. But I tell you, you and I have
some mountains that God's put before us. We have the mountain
of His law that He's put on this earth. And many a man has broke
himself trying to climb that mountain. Trying to be good enough. Trying to be good enough to merit
salvation. Trying to be religious enough
to merit salvation. Oh, my lips have never touched
alcohol. I've never smoked. I've never
cursed. I've never drank. I've always done this. My mom
and my daddy are so proud of me. Listen to me. You're a sinner. And if you try to climb that
mountain, you're going to be one of the other bones littering
the valley down below. There is a mountain of God's
law that He has put on this earth. There is a mountain of His strict
justice. The soul that sinneth shall surely
die. Not maybe, surely. Now that's
a mountain I can't get over. I came into this world a sinner.
Death is what I have come in. He says this, the mountain here.
This mountain is a mountain also of His righteousness, His holiness. How can I ever ascend these mountains?
I'd have to have clean hands to do this. I cannot do it. These are difficulties that God
Almighty has put on this earth and only God Himself can bring
an answer to this. And that's exactly what the gospel
is all about. Look at Galatians chapter 4. Galatians chapter 4. We'll look at a couple of verses
in Galatians 4, verse 4. But when the fullness of time
was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under
the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might
receive the adoption of sons. The fullness of time, God dealt
with these matters. Look over chapter 3, verse 13
in Galatians. Christ hath redeemed us from
the curse of the law, being made a curse for us. For it is written,
Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree. That was in God's
law. That we might see that Christ, this One who came, has redeemed
us from the curse of the law, this mountain that was in our
way. I'm telling you, this One who was made sin for us, who
knew no sin, He was made sin for us that we might be made
the righteousness of God in Him. He has made a way through His
mountains. And I'm telling you, this highway
that He's made, it's exalted. You see that? It's conspicuous.
It's exalted in the earth. It's a conspicuous way that God
Almighty has made through the mountains that He put that were
in our way. It's a way that's so plain and
so simple that a way-fearing man, though he be a fool, need
not err therein." Is this complicated? Is it complicated? I tell people
that Christ came and laid down His life as a surety and as a
substitute, bearing the sins of His people and giving to them
His righteousness. And they looked to Him and Him
alone Is that complicated? That's plain. That's conspicuous. That's an exalted highway. That's
what this is talking about. That's exactly what that's talking
about. High and conspicuous in the earth. And look back in our
text. Verse 12. And behold, these shall come.
They're going to come from far. They're going to come from far.
Lo, these from the north and from the west and these from
the land of Sinai. North, south, east. Sinai. Some
of the old people believe it talks about the far, far east. It's talking about China. Ptolemy
said that. All I know is they're coming.
And he says, behold, take a look at this. These are coming. They're coming. You just watched.
They're coming. Why? Verse 13 says, Sing, O heavens,
and be joyful, O earth. Break forth into singing, O mountains,
for the Lord hath comforted his people, and they'll have mercy
upon his afflicted. He's told here, we're told the
angels are told to rejoice and give glory. And the earth is
to praise Him and sing for what He's been talking about here.
This is big. This is big. This affects heaven
and earth. You know, we're told in Luke,
chapter 15, 10, Likewise, our Lord said, I say to you, there
is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner
that repents. Now, I don't know what that means.
I don't know if that means the angels rejoice when one sinner
repents, or if in the presence of angels, the Lord rejoices
and the angels sing when one sinner repents. All I know is
this joy, joy that's being spoken of here for what the Son of God
has done and what He's doing. Great joy. Why? Sing heaven, sing earth, for
the Lord hath comforted his people. And we'll have mercy on the afflicted. There's a number of things there
I want you to see. God Almighty has a people. That's
what we've been talking about. He has a people. The elect of
God. You can't deny it. You'd have
to turn your eyes off and rip entire books out of this Bible. to deny the election of God.
He has a people, and those people need comfort. That's what you
see in that verse. And you also see in that very
verse, He hath comforted them. I like that. It isn't, He will. He has. He has. This was written
750 years before the birth of Christ, but it's already acknowledging
The greatness of the work of the Son of God. This is what
He hath done. He has comforted His people,
and I'll tell you something else, He's going to have mercy on them.
He will have mercy on them. He will have mercy on them. As long as this world stands,
His people are going to have mercy given to them. Mercy. Ah, my goodness. Now, if that's
something that an angel ought to sing about, how about you
and me? You realize you have more reason for joy than Gabriel.
He never fell into sin. Forgive me. Well, these things are true. That old song, The Voices of
Ten Thousand Angels? Couldn't express my gratitude. They just don't know. Well, listen. But we get it wrong. Let's deal
here with where we live. I've been reading things to you
here and I think sometimes we just don't get it. So he says
here, but Zion said, the Lord hath
forsaken me and my God has forgotten me. Isn't that amazing? Isn't
that amazing? You know, you look at the world
around you and you go to work every day and you deal with your
neighbors and you find so little interest in the things of God.
People are so ignorant of the Scripture You see false religion
all around you flourishing. Men with no integrity being so-called
happy. Having it all. David said, their
eyes stand out with fatness. Remember that in Psalm? Their
eyes stand out with fatness. David looked at them and he said,
you know my feet well and I slide. I was almost gone. Psalm 77, 7, he asks the Lord,
is your mercy clean gone? Have you forgotten to be gracious?
God's people go through times like that. We get it wrong, but we think we're forgotten and
forsaken. But listen to the Lord here in verse 15. Can a woman
forget her suckling child that she should not have compassion
on the son of her womb? Now this is an interesting verse
because if there's ever a time a mama loves her little boy,
it's when he's a little boy. He's a suckling child. You know, the kid hasn't had
a chance to grow up and back talk to you. He hasn't opened
his mouth and embarrassed you publicly. I know you ladies that
have had children, there comes a point in time when they do
that. This is talking about the love of a mother for her suckling
child, her son. And he says, now, can a woman
forget her son and have not compassion on the son of her womb? Well,
yeah, they may forget. Might just go crazy. The best mother that ever lived
might just go completely berserk and not love her son. But listen to this. They may
forget, but I'll not forget them. You see, the success of the Savior,
this one Isaiah spoke of, all that he would do for his people,
and all he would continue to do for his people, and he would
never forget them. He would never forsake them. Verse 16, Behold, I have graven
thee upon the palms of my hands, and thy walls are continually
performing. Behold. Look at that word by word. I. This is something I did. I chose you. You didn't choose
me. Blind chance did not bring you
to Christ. You know that? You're here today
and you that believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, blind chance and
luck had nothing to do with it. I wrote you on my hands. You
didn't write you on my hands. You didn't make a decision for
me. No angel wrote you on my hand. I put your name there. I, the
sovereign God, have done this." And notice what he says here,
I have done this. It's not, I will do this. It
isn't, I'm doing this as I speak to you. I remember growing up
in religion, every time there was somebody so-called converted,
everybody would jump up and sing, there's a new name written down
in glory. No, there ain't. Ain't no new names written down,
Lord. I have. That's the same word He uses
when He said, Jacob, have I loved. Esau, have I hated. This is an
everlasting love. This is an ancient love that
we're speaking about here. Jeremiah 31.3 said, The Lord
appeared unto me of old. I have to say, appeared of old
unto me saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love,
and therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee." It's because
of my everlasting love for you that with lovingkindness I draw
you. I have graven him. I love that word. He didn't sketch
this with a pencil. He didn't do it with ink. He
dug your name. chiseled your name into his hand. I have engraven thee. You notice he doesn't just say
name. I said name a moment ago, but that's not really accurate.
It's you. You, I've put in your name, your
fullness, your person, your image. I've engraved everything about
you. everything that concerns you, I have put you all together
in My hand." That's what he's saying. Spurgeon said, each one of us
is thought of as if there were no other created being. I just
love when I read things like that. You find yourself saying,
oh, he's forgotten me, but that's not the case. He cares so much
for his children, these freed ones, these ones that he's brought
out of the prison and sent forth, he cared so much that Spurgeon
went on to say that if the whole universe were dissolved and had
departed like a shadow and our Lord had but one man to fix all
his grace upon, he would not watch him more, nor more carefully
and lovingly see after his best interest than he now cares for
each one of his sons." Now that's, my friend, that's
the sovereignty of God. That's the gospel concerning
God and His people, Christ and His people. I've graven you upon
the palms of my hands. You notice, He didn't grave your
name or your person on the works of His hands. He didn't write
the name of Miss Tate over here on the mountains. He didn't write it on the stars
above. All these things shall wax old
as a garment and they're going to perish. He's written and engraved
the names of His sons and the people that He sent His sons
to die for in His hands because they're going to continue to
exist as long as the hands of God Almighty do. And I love this here because
His hands are mentioned because it speaks of His activity. His
activity. I hope your hands, when someone
speaks of your hands, have something to do with activity. I want you
to know that everything God has ever done, touched, has had something
to do with His Son and His people. And everything He shall ever
do throughout eternity and use His hands for is going to have
something to do with His Son and His people. That's why He's
put you in His hands. He's not a lover in word only.
He's a doer. He's a doer. The psalmist said,
he will perfect that which concerns me. Philippians, you can look
at it later, 1 verse 6 says, Paul wrote to the Philippians
saying, being confident of this very thing, that he that hath
begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus
Christ. I'm confident of this. You're
in the hands of God Almighty and he is working all things
together. for the good of them that love
God. Those who are called according to purpose. That's the one that Isaiah saw
coming. And I'll look back here at the text. Graven in his hands
and your walls are continually before me. The walls of Zion
are always before him. Zion's walls are always watched.
I tell you, that's not just the walls of the church. That includes
the very walls of your house. If the hairs on our heads are
numbered, do you think the Lord does not know your address? You better believe it. And listen,
thy children shall make haste. Zion's children are going to
come. They're going to come flying. And your destroyers that made
thee waste, they're going to go forth from thee. All the Lord's
people are going to be brought in and all their enemies are
going to be conquered. That's the Savior that Isaiah
saw coming. And that's the Savior that I
put.