Well, as I said, we're coming
back to Isaiah, Isaiah chapter 14 and verse 32 is our text,
Isaiah chapter 14 and verse 32. And by way of introduction, I
want to point out, and you know this, the true Christian life,
the true Christian life, there's an awful lot that thinks it is,
there's an awful lot that sounds close, but isn't. But the true
Christian life is a lonely path in this world. It's a lonely
path. Even our grandsons said to me
once, quite casually, do you know, Grandad, we're the only
believers in our school. You know, it's the way it feels.
The only ones who seek to worship the true God. It's a lonely path. And yet the true church of God
interacts with the world around. It interacts with it. And that's
what this text is about, as we'll see later. You see, it is a lonely
path. It is a very lonely path. Don't
expect to be the center of popularity. Don't expect to have the crowds
thronging around you because you believe the things of God.
They're very opposite. People make up the things of
God that they like to think they are, but they're not. That's
a lie. What this book says is the truth of God, and if you
believe that, the natural man will not receive it as 1 Corinthians
2 says, the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit
of God. Why? They're foolishness to him. Neither
can he know them. Why? Why can't he know them?
He might be very clever, why can't he know them? I'll tell
you why. Because they are spiritually discerned. Except the Spirit
of God teach you, you will not understand these things. Oh,
but God is gracious, and He does teach. And if you seek, you shall
find. Jesus said that. Seek, and ye
shall find. Don't say, ah, ah, by His sovereignty
He's kept me out. No, seek, and you shall find.
Knock, and it shall be opened to you. Yes, it's a lonely path,
but, but, are we downcast? No, because the One who is for
us is God. If God before us, says Romans
8, if God before us, who can be against us? What can be against
us? Answer, nothing of course. Why? If you're a minority of one plus
God, you're greater than every other power and influence in
the world. A minority of one plus God is
greater than the rest of the world. This is the God whom we
worship. And the Book of God constantly,
repeatedly declares the holiness of God, the purity of God, God's
anger against sin, for all have sinned and fall short of the
glory of God, God's anger against sin, God's justice, God's divine
justice, God's judgment on sin, the retribution that must be
paid for sin, for all have sinned without exception, But constantly,
throughout this word that declares God's anger, God is angry with
the wicked every day, constantly He declares grace to His elect,
to that multitude that no man can number. He calls them out,
His people. We saw it last time in chapter
12, verse 1. He calls them out when? In that
day. In that day. In the day that
the light shined in your heart, if you're a believer, the day
that the light shined in you, the day that all the confusion
suddenly, ah, this is the truth of God. This is God. This is
the reality of eternity. of righteousness, of salvation,
of freedom from condemnation, for there is now no condemnation
to those who are in Christ Jesus, who walk not according to the
flesh, but according to the Spirit. In that day, He turns the light
on. He shows His salvation. Where
does He show it? In His Son. He shows satisfaction
made to the offended justice of God by my sin. He shows me,
satisfaction has been made. I will look for the sins of Israel
and Judah, and they shall not be found. And then in these chapters,
that was chapter 12, in chapters 13 to about 24, though it keeps
coming back, there's there's a real catalogue of the iniquity
of the nations and he takes them in turn Babylon and Edom and
Moab and so on all of the nations and he catalogues the iniquity
of the nations and the fury of God against their sin and the
just judgment that's coming upon them and that however he might
use them as his instruments of judgment like the Assyrians they
will be brought down They will be brought down. The Babylonians,
mighty in power, but they will be brought down. They're only
his instruments for a while and then he brings them down in judgment
because they deserve it. They deserve it. Their sin deserves
it. Our sins deserve the justice of God. And it's certain is that
justice. And do you know the strict justice
of God, do you know this? Is without mercy. As you read
this book, when the strict justice of God is applied strictly as
it should be for sin, it is without any mercy at all. It really is. These warnings of judgment, what
are they saying to us today? They're saying this, it's happened. It's happened. God judges sin. God punishes sin. Look back in
your history books. God punishes sin. Where are the
Assyrians today? There are a set of artifacts
in the British Museum and a pile of dust in the desert. That's
it. That's all there is. Where is Babylon today? It's
a living place of wild animals in the desert. That's all it
is today, because God's justice has fallen. Now what does that
say to us? God has said he will judge sin. And when you read
Revelation, and you read what's happening to this world at the
end of all things, when God brings in his final judgment against
Satan and sin, we read about Lucifer falling from heaven,
where's he going? It says, you shall be brought
down to hell, to the sides of the pit. If that's happening
to the devil, who hates God, then it's happening to all of
those who are outside of Christ. That warning is clear and the
historical record is that God keeps his promises. If you live,
these are solemn words, if you live without Christ, without
God in this world, You are, as the Scripture says, without hope,
and you personally will answer for your sin before God's strict
justice, and you will bear its dreadful penalty yourself. But,
but, but, every now and then, throughout the chapters of judgment,
there are declarations of mercy and grace on his elect. Did you
notice what we read in chapter 14, the first three verses? Judgment,
judgment, judgment. Then I will have mercy on Jacob,
and I will yet choose Israel and set them in their own land.
This is prophetic, symbolical language of what God will do for his people
in saving them from their sins. It shall come to pass in that
day that the Lord shall give thee rest from thy sorrow and
from thy fear and from the hard bondage wherein thou wast made
to serve. messages of grace and mercy. Now let's get the historical
context of this. We're about 700 or so years BC. There's an ancient historian
in the congregation this morning, so he'll correct me if I'm wrong
about that, but it was about 700-750 BC was the time when
the Assyrian Empire was dominant and the Babylonian Empire was
rising and there were these huge great world powers. You know the great world powers,
you can see them in Revelation, Egypt, Assyria, the Chaldeans,
the Babylonians, the Persians, the Greeks, and then the Romans,
and then great world empires as such were no more but a collection. That's how to interpret it in
Revelation. And by comparison to these great
empires, Jerusalem and Judea, I mean, Israel was even split. The ten tribes in the north had
been mixed with the Syrians, and had become a mongrel race.
The only place where the truth of God was kept was in Judea
and Jerusalem. Little, tiny, insignificant,
compared with these great empires. So very small by comparison,
but They were never over... Assyria didn't go, Jerusalem
and Judea, oh don't bother about that, it really hasn't got much
that interests us, it's so small we couldn't care less whether
we conquer it or not, we're far more interested in the big nations
of the world. No, they took a great interest in Jerusalem and Judea. They were never overlooked by
the world powers. Why not? Why not? I'll tell you. The book of God tells us. It's
because Satan knew that from Judah would come Messiah. Remember what Jacob said to his
sons? The scepter, the power shall
not depart from Judah until Shiloh come. Until, oh is it gone again? Until Shiloh come, okay. The rod of power shall not depart
from Judah until the Messiah come. And the Messiah will crush
the serpent's head, will crush Satan's head. So Satan seeks
its destruction. That's the story of history.
Satan seeks the destruction of that which is the people of God
and the church of God. The great empires then took a
disproportionate interest in Jerusalem and Zion. And in verse
32, what shall one then answer the messengers of the nation,
of the world? What shall one answer the messengers
of the world? There's a question there. Because
they're going to come to this little place of Jerusalem and
Judah with questions. The world is taking an interest
in this tiny little insignificant thing in a corner of Palestine.
Now, the world in which we live in, regards the true Church of
God as so insignificant many have hardly heard of us. They
pay us no attention at all. Nevertheless, there is an interest."
There is an interest. You will find it. Individuals,
you will find it. Nothing seems to happen, and
then a conversation arises with somebody, and They're curious. Why do you believe the things?
What is it that you're actually believing? The world sends messengers
to ask you questions. You interact in normality, but
something crops up. Why do you think like that? Oh,
well, because I'm a believer. I believe God. I believe his
word. Oh really? That's interesting. Well why
do you believe that? You see, the messengers are sent
from the world, all in the planning of God, to the church, Zion,
his people. Here it was Jerusalem and Judea.
Now it's little pockets of believers, individuals even, who are asked
things. This is the relevance of it to
us. The true church in our day, in this country at least, is
exactly what Revelation 11 says. We're lying dead in the streets,
and yet Satan is furious with us. Revelation 12 verse 17, And
the dragon, the devil, was wroth, was furious, was angry with the
woman, the church, his people, Zion, and went to make war with
the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God,
and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. You see, he stirs up,
Satan stirs up disproportionate curiosity in the world regarding
the Church. And it provokes the nations to
send messengers with questions. What questions? Verse 32, Then
what shall we answer? Clearly, questions, and the answers
are given. But what I want to do is break
this down into what questions does this world ask of us as
believers? Why should we answer them? and
what answer should we give? So firstly, what do the nation's
messengers ask about Zion? I could put that another way.
What do the colleagues that you come across, the relatives that
you have, the friends that you have, the people that you meet,
what do they ask you as a believer about the truth of God that you
believe? Now, to give an example, In Isaiah 39, Isaiah is a prophecy
but occasionally there are some historical accounts given, and
in Isaiah 39 we have the historical account of Hezekiah being visited
by messengers from Babylon, from the Chaldean Empire. And they
came to Hezekiah and they were curious about this Jerusalem
thing and this temple and what they had there, and they asked
Hezekiah What is your treasure? What is your treasure? What is
your treasure? Likewise, unbelievers might ask
you and me, the church, Zion today, they might ask the true
church about our treasure. What do you value? What do you
put great value upon? The world values things. The world around us, they value
things. People value things, don't they?
The things they can get, that's what people value. And let's
not be hypocritical and claim that we don't value things as
well. We like to have things that work
and do the job for us. We like to have things. But the
world bows down and worships these things. We like to have
experiences. Do you know, I get ever so slightly
disturbed when I hear of people who claim to be true believers
having things like, you know, what the world calls a bucket
list of things that I must do before I die. Really? As a believer? A whole list of,
you know, I must visit every country on earth. Is your life
going to be less than completely fulfilled if you don't visit
every country on earth? Are you going to die sobbing
in your heart that you didn't visit outer Mongolia or wherever
it might be? This is what the world values. This is the treasure the world
lays up. not the treasure that believers should lay up. I'm
not saying it's wrong to travel, not in the slightest, but you
know, put all these things. Abraham had great riches, but
where were those riches in terms of importance? To him, the worship
of God was what was important. And God, all these things, the
Lord shall add unto you as you need them. He provides what you
need. As we get older, that's particularly for the young, things
and experiences is what the world values. Then as we get older,
and you start to get things, physically, illnesses, you start
to value your health. Oh, health. Oh, wow, I tell you.
You get to the stage, you can have the money of the great rock
stars. and they discover that they've
got a terminal cancer. And what is it worth to them
then? What is it worth? You know, you can inherit a huge
amount of money and think, right soul, you're filled up with goods,
you know, go and enjoy it all, eat, drink and be merry and God
says, thou fool, this night your soul shall be required of you.
You know, where will all your goods be then? So we value health
and we value family. Yes, it's good to have family,
it's good to treat your family well, it's good to value your
family, but, not above God, Jesus said, if you don't, I mean the
words used in the scripture are hate, mother, father, wife, of
course he's not teaching people to hate their relatives, not
at all, but what he's saying is by comparison, if you want to truly
love your relatives, love God more. That's the thing. If you
truly want to love your relatives, love God more above all things. your friends, etc. Because you
see, if you value those things, you die and leave them all behind. There are no pockets in shrouds,
as they say. Where will all that treasure,
all that experience be? What will it be to you on the
day that you are called out of this world into eternity? Now
for the believer, for the Church, for Zion, I'm talking individually,
collectively, worldwide, What do you treasure? Here come the
messengers of the world. What is your treasure? Our treasure
is of the truth of God. Do you ever think, you know,
the world can't possess it, unbelief can't possess it, but there's
a belief to know that you know the truth of God. He's revealed
it to you. You know the truth of the existence,
the being, the character of God. You know the truth of the justice
of God established. You know the truth of the righteousness
of God and the atonement that He has accomplished in the person
of His Son. You know the truth of God. You
know what Paul said to the Athenians, that in Him, in God, we live
and move and have our being. You walk every step knowing that
this is all in the hands of the living God. We have his light.
This is what I treasure as a believer. Zion, the world asks me, why
do you bother with all this? Because of the light of God.
I just cannot imagine the darkness as it was before I knew God.
The light of God is glorious. The light of the truth of God
in this dark world where we don't know what's what, to know the
truth of God is light. to know the holiness of God,
to know the infinite resources of God, to know the love of God
which passes knowledge, to know the grace of God, and the goodness
of God, and the righteousness that He has established in Christ
for His people, the salvation from sin that is accomplished,
the peace that is ours as believers, peace with God. Wow! You know, in world conflicts,
world leaders, they'd pay such a premium if they could bring
peace in the Middle East, or peace in that conflict, or this
other conflict, or this situation. But to have peace with the living
God, who is angry with the wicked every day, ah, that's treasure. That is treasure. That is all
the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. That is all spiritual blessings
in heavenly places in Christ. To know that Zion is what He
has founded. To know that this is the treasure
we possess. To know that God has founded
Zion. He's laid the foundations of
it. We seek a city which has foundations, whose builder and
maker is God. He has founded it. Where do we
find its treasure? Where do we find the treasure?
Where is all the treasure of God found? Where do we find it?
Ah, you must go on this pilgrimage to this place, to this retreat,
to this situation. You must read this. No, no, no,
no, no, no. Where do we find the treasure
of God? Because the world is asking, what is your treasure,
believer? Where do we find it? In Christ. In Christ alone. There's nowhere else. How can
there possibly be, in Christ alone, God who shined light in
darkness at creation has shined in the hearts of his people to
give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face
of Jesus Christ, in whom, as Paul says to the Colossians,
in whom Christ, in whom dwell all the treasures of wisdom and
knowledge. If you would be wise, you know,
you young people growing up, if you would be wise, if you
would be rich, Find your riches in the Christ of God, because
there is true riches. He alone can satisfy. You can
try all the broken cisterns of this world for water to make
you satisfied, but none but Christ can satisfy. None other name
for me. None but Christ can satisfy.
We must have that. This is the manifestation of
the unknowable God who dwells in unapproachable light. When
the world asks us what we value so much about Zion, what should
we be? 1 Peter 3, 15. Be ready always
to give an answer to every man that asks you a reason for the
hope that is in you. Be ready to give that reason
with meekness and with fear. And what is it? What is the reason
for the hope that's in you? It's Christ and the salvation
he's accomplished. and his resurrection from the
dead, which is the first fruits of our resurrection from that
eternal death. He is the one who is our hope
and the reason and our treasure. And then secondly, they would
ask us, what is your confidence? In what do you put your confidence?
Again, another historical passage. In Isaiah 37, before the one
we've just talked about, in Isaiah 37, the Assyrian Empire comes
and besieges Jerusalem and Judea, and seeks to overthrow it. And
the emperor of the Assyrians is a king called Sennacherib.
Again, you go to the British Museum, you can see all about
him, and he sends his messengers. And the message that they bring
as they're besieging Jerusalem in the days of Hezekiah the king,
when Isaiah was the prophet, the message that they send, the
questions that they ask is, What's your confidence in? Look at us.
Look at the Assyrians. Look how great we are. How on
earth are you going to withstand this? Surely you don't want to
get killed. You don't want to get crushed. Just open your gates
and let us in. Become one of our provinces.
You know you cannot possibly win against us. There's nobody
ever has. Look, look, look at what we did
to them. Look at what we did to that kingdom over there. They
tried to resist us and look at them now. And what does Hezekiah
reply? You see, Hezekiah, most of his
life he was a godly king. What does Hezekiah reply? He
goes to Isaiah, he seeks the Lord through Isaiah. Does Hezekiah
reply, ah well look at the wall that we've got round Jerusalem,
it's a jolly thick wall, not many people have got through
that, we built it really well. Though we're small, you know,
you're not going to get through that wall. And actually, we've
got resources. We'll call on our friends elsewhere.
They'll come and help us." Is that what he did? Not at all.
He said, though we're small, Sennacherib, Assyria, compared
with you, the God of the universe is for us. The God of the universe
is for us. How big are you, Assyria, compared
with the God of the universe? Him we will trust. Today, think
of it, people look at us and they say, why are you just meeting?
You're so small, you're so, why don't you do things the way the
big popular churches do? I could take you to at least
three places in Wellingarden city where at this moment they
will be overflowing literally with hundreds of people all waving
their arms in the air and dancing in the aisles and whooping and
saying glorious things about Jesus and oh hallelujah and all
things that sound Christian and I tell you, The truth of God
is not there. because it's a gospel they've
made up on their own. It isn't the true gospel of this
book. It flies in the face. They have a saying. Do you know
what the strap line is? You know like all businesses
have to have like a motto, a strap line, a mission statement. Do
you know what the motto is of this particular place? It's no
more than about four or five hundred yards from where we live
in Wellingarden City. Because people matter to God. I'm sorry, tell me where you
find that in the Bible. Where do you find that in the
Bible? It just isn't there. It isn't there. It's not the
message of the truth of God. Do we go along with them and
amend our message so that we get the numbers that they get?
So that we become big and thriving? Absolutely not. No. Our trust
is in the true God. And whether we're big or small
is entirely down to Him. and it's entirely His will. Him
we will trust. He has founded Zion. Look, that's
what it says, the Lord has founded Zion. This is our confidence.
This, I'm not meaning this particular church, but His church in this
world, His true church, that preaches His true gospel, He
has founded it. He's the reason we do it. There's
no other reason. We couldn't do it ourselves.
We have no resources in ourselves to do it. He has declared concerning
his church that the gates of hell shall not prevail against
it. However strong you are, Assyria,
you just can't come in. And do you know something? They
didn't. They didn't. God struck them
with blindness, or am I confusing that with another one? But something
like that. They woke up one morning in Jerusalem and looked over
the walls, and do you know what? They were gone. They'd just gone.
Because God wouldn't let them in. How will we survive without
the numbers of a big organisation? How will we do that? We just
say this. God is on our side. God and his
truth is on our side. He has founded Zion. He has founded
what we believe in. The world and unbiblical religion
cannot harm God's Zion. Thirdly, thirdly, well, what
are your credentials? What's your authority for doing
what you do? I mean, you call yourself a church.
You call yourself Nebworth Grace Church. Who was it who authorized
you to have a church in Nebworth? I mean, where did you get the
authority? Show me the letters that say you can have a church
here. I'll tell you who authorized us. God did. How did God authorize
us? He gave the message of the truth
of his gospel. And he put a burden on our shoulders
that we must declare it, that we cannot live without worshipping
him, without declaring the gospel of his grace. And he revealed
his truth and gave spiritual light by his spirit. And so it
is for every little gathering, however small, however great,
where the people of God that he has called seriously Come
together. He is the authorization for what
we do. His spirit is the authorization
for what we do. We ought to obey God, not man,
said Peter to the leaders in Jerusalem. We obey God by proclaiming
the gospel of His grace. If nobody else is going to do
it, if they're going to tell a pack of lies in the name of
religion, we'll stand up, God helping us, and we will declare
the truth. Do you know, the world came to John Bunyan, however
many hundred years ago he lived, 1600s, wasn't it? The world came
to him in Bedford, just up the road from where we are now. And
they said, you've got to stop preaching because you can only
preach if you're authorised by the Church of England, by the
government. And he said, well, I've got to declare the gospel.
And people said, we need to hear the gospel from you, John Bunyan.
And he kept on preaching. And you know what they did to
him? They locked him up in Bedford jail for 12 years. And whilst
he was locked up in Bedford Jail for 12 years, do you know what
he did? He wrote books. He wrote The Pilgrim's Progress.
He wrote The Holy War. Because the world that sought
to silence him, well, how many people have been reached by the
Gospel through Pilgrim's Progress that John Bunyan wrote while
the world tried to shut him up in Bedford Jail for 12 years?
They couldn't do it. What are Zion's credentials?
Zion has authorised us. He founded Zion. Who's going
to stop that? He, our Lord Jesus Christ, is
the author and finisher of our faith. And everything is of God
in Christ. And what's our testimony? When
we've done everything, when we've done everything, when we've served
Him perfectly, if ever that were possible, and we get to the end
of our lives, what's our testimony as believers? It's this, what
the hymn says, nothing in my hand I bring. An old woman in
a legalistic church once said to me, I try to witness because
I don't want to go into the Lord's house, into heaven empty-handed. And I thought, oh dear, what
on earth is the message you've been listening to all these years?
Nothing in my hand I bring. If you're clinging on to what
you've done and what you can take and what you can give to
God, you're not saved. You are not saved. Fourthly,
the world might ask, and these messengers would have asked,
Why are you holding out like you are there? Why don't you
join up with one of the big empires? Why are you maintaining this
worship in this peculiar temple that you've got here in Jerusalem?
To us, what are you doing this for? Why are you depriving yourself
of the fun that the world's having on this lovely sunny Sunday morning
out there? Why walk the narrow way against the tide of humanity? And we reply, as they replied,
God provides for us. God is our providential provider.
He preserves us, He keeps us, He divinely cares for us. We
believe a God who causes all things to work together for good
to those who love God, who are called according to His purpose.
But above all, why do we do it? Because He's given us a hope.
If just for this life we deprive ourselves of the things the world
loves, and that's all we get out of it, we are, as Paul says,
of all men most miserable. but he's given us a hope of glory.
This is the hope that is in us. It's the eternal bliss in God's
heaven that we look to, for the glory of God, for the praise
of Christ. We're saved and called, as Paul
said to Timothy, with a holy calling, not according to your
works, but according to his purpose and grace in Christ before the
foundation of the world. These are the sorts of questions
that come. And they come out of the blue. Sometimes you interact
with your neighbours and then all of a sudden, at some stage,
a question will be asked. And it will come up and it will
stimulate a conversation. People that you've known for
a long time. Don't push it in God's good time, but always be
ready to give a reason for the hope that is in you. And then
why answer the world's messengers? And I must hurry. Generally,
people are curious about true Christians. We get on very, very
well with our neighbours and we often spend time together
and we share gardens and it's good to be, if at all possible,
as lies within you, live at peace with all men. But our next door
neighbour said to me, I think it was last year sometime, and
we were talking about why we believe what we believe. And
he said to me, he said, you know, he said, he said, you're the
most unreligious person I've ever come across. And I was really
pleased about that. Because the world's view of a
religious person is somebody who, you know, goes and lives
like a Tibetan monk, or somebody who wears a nun's habit, and
somebody who does this penance and that penance, and somebody
who has a list of things that they are very disciplined about
obeying, but we don't. Do we? We just seek to honour
Christ. We seek to live in the good of
his truth. So he said to me, you're the
most unreligious religious person I've ever come across. Oh, let's
try and... I was so pleased with that. Others
are contemptuous and scornful. Let's face it, they are. You'll
find it at work. You'll be excluded from various
associations. Bit by bit excluded. They'll
mock you that we find such beauty in Zion when the world's treasures
glitter a lot more. You know, when they came from
Babylon, those messengers to Hezekiah, show us your treasures.
And they will have said, what have you got? Because, you know,
you should see Babylon. You've never visited? Is Babylon
not on your bucket list? You really, Hezekiah, you must
come to Babylon. Oh, you'll want some of that.
Do you know, we've got one of, I don't know if they were at
the time, but later they were regarded historically as one
of the seven wonders of the world, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon,
were a magnificent site apparently. Oh, come and look at Babylon's
Hanging Gardens. But you see, to the inhabitants
of Zion, to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to the inhabitants
of the Church of God in our day. Psalm 48 verse 2, beautiful for
situation. The joy of the whole earth is
Mount Zion on the sides of the north, the city of the great
king. Why is it so beautiful? Why is it so beautiful? Because
Christ is there. Why was Jerusalem so beautiful?
Because the temple was there. What was it about the temple?
Architecture? No. It was symbolical of the
presence of God in Christ with his people. That's what the temple
was all about. To the people of true faith in
Jerusalem, Christ was in their midst when they were there in
the temple. It was symbolical of him, of his body, being there
amongst them. Why must we Answer these messengers
because we're called to preach the gospel to each and every
one that will listen without distinction of age, of race,
of class, of status. Go into all the world and preach
the gospel to any and all who will listen to you. Certainly
beware, because Jesus said to his disciples, don't cast your
pearls before swine, your pearls of truth. If people are contemptuous
and are just going to pour scorn, don't bother wasting your time
there. No, no, no. But don't judge any. Don't judge
any beyond the reach of God's saving arm. The arm of the Lord
is not shortened that it cannot save. He can save those that
we think are absolutely dyed in the wool unbelievers and never
ever going to believe. Can I give you an example? There's
one shining example. Stands head and shoulders above
the rest, you must know. Saul of Tarsus. Saul of Tarsus. who
persecuted the Church of Jesus Christ, who sought to kill believers. He went to Damascus with letters
from the high priest to go and bind, to tie up and bring back
to Jerusalem for execution those who were promoting the cause
of Jesus of Nazareth. If we'd been Christians in those
days, we probably in our flesh would have said to one another,
do you know something, We need to arrange the assassination
of this Saul of Tarsus before he does more damage and harm
to our brethren. Let's arrange for an accident
to happen to him so he can't do it anymore. And on his way
to Damascus to do his very worst, the arm of the Lord, the saving
arm of the Lord, reached down and stopped that man in his tracks
and he became the Apostle Paul for whom The proclamation of
the gospel of Christ was what he absolutely could not live
without doing. Woe is me if I preach not the
gospel, he said. I must preach Christ. To me to
live is Christ. This is the man who persecuted
and wanted to kill. To me, to live, what is your
motive? Christ, Christ is everything.
Use whatever opportunity to tell them about Christ and his salvation. When the question arises, tell
them. Tell them about it. Go home.
Do you remember that man who was possessed of demons by the
lake of Gennesaret and, you know, the herd of swine. Jesus allowed
the demons to go into the herd of swine and they fell headlong
in the lake, in the sea. And this man was clothed and
in his right mind. And he wanted to follow Jesus
and go with him where he went. And Jesus said no. He said no. You go home to thy friends and
tell them how great things the Lord has done for you. Go and
tell them what the Lord has done. I was once in darkness, now my
eyes can see. I was lost but Jesus sought and
found me. Go and tell them. Some could be like the Queen
of Sheba. She was full of admiration. She came to see Solomon. She
was genuinely interested. You know in the Song of Solomon,
When the beloved is lovesick, where is my beloved? Oh daughters
of Jerusalem, tell me if you find him, tell me. And the daughters
of Jerusalem answer and they say, what is your beloved more
than another beloved? What is he? And it gives an opportunity. The messengers, they're interested. Some people might genuinely ask
you, please don't forever be on a soapbox preaching at people. Why a soapbox? I don't know,
but it's just become a phrase in the English language, you
know. A box that they used to deliver soap in and it was sturdy
enough to turn up on end and you could stand on it and you
could talk to a crowd rather than being buried below the level
of the crowd. Don't stand on your soapbox preaching
at people all the time. No, don't do that. Don't waste
your employer's time when they're paying you to work for them.
Don't waste your employer's time standing on your soapbox preaching.
No. Be like Daniel was in Babylon, when Daniel was one of the captives
in Babylon. And Daniel was, because of his
integrity, he was raised to the second only behind Nebuchadnezzar
in the kingdom. And what did he do? Did his job.
Did his job, maintained his worship, but he did his job with integrity.
Do that and wait for the questions to be answered, because we're
all the ambassadors of God. And then finally, and very briefly,
what answer to give? What answer do we give when the
messengers of the world come and ask us, what's your treasure?
What's your confidence? This, that or the other about
you? Why should we answer them? Because we're commanded to answer
them. We're bidden to answer them. We must tell them what
things the Lord has done to us. But what should we say? That
the true God, the creator, the sustainer, the just, oh, well,
I don't believe in a God. Just declare the God you believe. that He has founded Zion, that
He has saved a people from their sins for eternal glory. He has
accomplished salvation from sin for the people of His sovereign
choice. Tell them that, because it's what God's book says. Don't
say God has a wonderful plan for your life, that's not in
this book. Tell them that God has accomplished salvation from
sin for the people of His sovereign choice. You see, They're poor. Look at it. The poor of his people
shall trust in it. They're poor. We're poor. We're
spiritually poor. We have, as Paul says to the
Philippians, no confidence in the flesh, no credentials to
boast of, but a hundred percent confidence in the Word of God.
This is our confidence. In its truth, we believe the
Bible. Ah, do you believe the Bible
because somebody's produced a good explanation as to why evolution
can't be true? No, no, we believe. By faith
we believe that God has done what he said he's done. We just
believe because God has said it. If God has said it, we believe
it. If God has said about election
and reprobation, we believe it because God has said it. Not
because somebody needs to produce an argument that flesh will trust.
No, we believe it because God has said it. It's a light to
our feet, a lamp to our path. It has a glorious prospect of
eternity with the living God. We're less than nothing in ourselves.
We're poor, but we trust in God, in Christ, our King, the King
of his eternal and triumphant kingdom. And who knows? Who knows? As we testify to these messengers
of the nations, these people that we come across, God's Spirit
could give life and light to some who are exactly where you
were before you believed. Now then, let's do that. Amen.