My subject tonight is the glory
of Zion. The title could just as well
be the glory of the church. When you read in the scriptures,
prophetic words concerning Zion, the reference is always to the
church of our God. Let's look at our text together
in Isaiah chapter two. Isaiah chapter two, verses one
through five. Now these five verses began Isaiah's
second recorded sermon. I suggest that you read the sermon
all together at one sitting as early as you can to get this
in its context. The sermon runs from chapter
two, verse one, down through verse six of chapter four. Our
text tonight will be just these first five verses of Isaiah chapter
two. In these verses, God's prophet
Isaiah gives a word of prophecy concerning the gospel age in
which we now live, in which he describes the great glory, excellence,
and benefit of the gospel church, which is Zion, the spiritual
kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ. As you read in the scriptures
about the kingdom of God, the kingdom of heaven, and the church
of God, Understand the words refer all to the same thing. The kingdom of God, the kingdom
of heaven, the church of God, the family of God speaks of Zion,
God's church. Look in verse one, Isaiah chapter
two. This is the word, the message of God, which Isaiah the son
of Amos saw, that is what he perceived and understood by the
revelation of God the Holy Ghost concerning Judah and Jerusalem. Again, referring to the church
and people of God. Verse two, and it shall come
to pass in the last days that the mountain of the Lord's house
shall be established in the top of the mountains. and shall be
exalted above the hills, and all nations shall flow unto it. And many people shall go and
say, come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
and to the house of the God of Jacob, and he will teach us of
his ways, and we will walk in his paths. For out of Zion shall
go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem, and
he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people,
and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears
into pruning hooks. Nations shall not lift up sword
against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore. O house of Jacob, come ye, let
us walk in the light of the Lord. At your leisure, if you care
to do so, you should read Micah 4, verses 1 through 5. Micah
was inspired by God the Holy Ghost to give us this same prophecy
in almost exactly the same words. So Micah proclaimed in his generation
exactly the same thing that Isaiah proclaimed in his. It is a prophetic
word concerning the church of our Lord Jesus Christ and the
glory of his church, the glory of Zion. Glorious things of thee
are spoken, Zion city of our God. Isaiah begins his sermon
by telling us that it concerns the last days. The last days. Everybody's interested in the
last days. Wouldn't you like to know when
the last days are? Well, listen carefully, and I'll
tell you. I'll do better than that. I'll
let God tell you. In the epistle of 1 John 2, verse
18, this is what John was inspired to write. Now remember, John
lived in the first generation of the church, in the age of
the apostles. He lived during the days of our
Lord Jesus Christ. He died shortly at the beginning,
close to the end of the first century. John says, this is the
last time. Well, I thought the last days
were out yonder somewhere. No, this is the last time. Literally, this is the last tick
of the clock. This is the last time. The last
days began with the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and the
dissolution of Judaism, the dissolution of the Mosaic economy, the ending
of all Old Testament legal ceremonial worship. This is the last time. These are the last days. Paul
tells us in Hebrews 1 verse 2, God hath in these last days God
hath in these last days spoken unto us by his son, whom he hath
appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds. Now, let me tell you what that
means. There is no future day of grace to come. I know we live
in this world where men have been insanely affected by prophetic
theories of interpreting the scriptures. There is no future
day of grace to come, no tribulation period of seven years, no millennial
age in which men will be saved by their works or by a return
to Jewish worship, by a return to Jewish altars, by a return
to a Jewish temple. There is no grace but that which
is to be found in the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. That
gospel that was revealed in types and ceremonies in the Old Testament. That gospel that is fully revealed
now in the person and work of our Lord Jesus Christ and in
the word of his grace. The scriptures tell us that when
Christ comes, 1 Corinthians chapter 15 and verse 24, then cometh
the end. When Christ comes, then cometh
the end. And I suspect all of you have
heard all of your lives, at least as long as you've been involved
in any kind of religious activity, about some imaginary secret rapture. The Lord's going to come and
suddenly folks will be driving down the highway and just be
popped out of the car and everybody'll go up into heaven. Who's ready
for the rapture. There's no such thing. The scripture
never speaks, the scripture never speaks of Christ coming secretly. Find it for me in this book.
The scripture never indicates that he will come secretly, but
rather he will come in power and in great glory and every
eye shall see him. And when he comes, then cometh
the end. That is, when Christ comes, he
wraps up all things revealed in the word of God, all things
ordered and decreed by God, and says, time shall be no more. In these last days, in this gospel
age, the Lord God, we're told by Isaiah, will build again Zion. His church will flourish. His
kingdom will prosper. Turn over to Isaiah chapter 54.
I want you to see this. Isaiah 54. This is a prophecy concerning
the same last days that Isaiah speaks of in chapter two. Sing,
O barren, thou that didst not bear. Break forth into singing
and cry aloud, thou that didst not prevail with child. For more
are the children of the desolate than the children of the married
wife, saith the Lord. He's talking now about the church
of God among the Gentiles as well as the Jews. Verse two.
Enlarge the place of thy tent let them stretch forth the curtains
of thine habitations Spare not lengthen thy cords and strengthen
thy stakes for thou shalt break forth on the right hand and on
the left and thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles and make the desolate
cities to be inhabited Fear not, for thou shalt not be ashamed.
Neither be thou confounded, for thou shalt not be put to shame.
For thou shalt forget the shame of thy youth, and shalt not remember
the reproach of thy widowhood anymore. For thy maker is thine
husband, the Lord of hosts is his name, and thy Redeemer, the
Holy One of Israel. The God of the whole earth shall
he be called. Now let's go back to Isaiah two,
and let me show you seven things. Seven things by which God's church
is distinguished in this last day, in this gospel age. Seven
things that show us the glory of God's Zion, God's church. The glory of the church today,
as opposed to the Old Testament age of the Mosaic economy, when
things were done in types and shadows and ceremonies of the
law. First, the prophet speaks to us about the establishment
of the church. Verse two, it shall come to pass
in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be
established in the top of the mountains and shall be exalted
above the hills and all nations, not just Jews, all nations shall
flow unto it. The prophet here tells us of
Christ building his church, establishing his kingdom in this world. It
is called the mountain of the Lord's house, established in
the top of the mountains. The church is here then called
first the house of God, the house of God. You remember how Paul
wrote to Timothy when he's sending Timothy his first epistle to
this young preacher. He said, if I tarry long, I write
this to you that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave
thyself in the house of God. which is the church of the living
God, the pillar and ground of the truth. He tells us in 1 Corinthians
3 that we're the temple of God, the house of God. Our Savior
said with regard to the physical temple, this is my Father's house.
How do you turn my Father's house into a house of merchandise?
We are the temple of God and the Spirit of God dwelleth in
you. Our Lord Jesus said, where two
or three are gathered together in my name, not where two or
three come together, where two or three are gathered together,
gathered by me, gathered by my spirit, gathered by my grace
in my name, there am I in the midst of them. The church of
God is the house of God. It is the house which the Lord
himself builds. He dwells here. He dwells here. He dwells here. This is the one
place on earth, the only place on earth where God promises he
dwells and meets with his people. Here, the Lord God comes and
meets with his own. He will beautify and glorify
and exalt his house. The materials of the house are
living stones, true believers built upon Christ the foundation.
built with the gold, silver, and precious stones of the gospel,
built by the gold of God's grace, built by the silver and precious
stones of gospel truth, so that the church of God is built up
of living stones, the temple stones, cut and fitted in the
temple, where a picture believers being hewn out of the pit of
fallen humanity, the quarry of fallen humanity, and fitted together
living stones in the house of God so that in God's house each
living stone is fitted in its place to serve God best and to
beautify the house best. The materials of the house are
built upon the foundation, Christ Jesus, and built only with the
gold, silver, and precious stone of the gospel. Would to God I
could get the ear of every preacher in this world who believes the
gospel of God's grace. One of the reasons that I think
our conferences we just finished are so very important is that
preachers, most of the preachers, have not been brought up under
the sound of the gospel as you have. And they never really get
hold of this fact. Preaching works. Preaching works. I'm not looking
for something to say, I want that to settle in, I want you
to get it. Preaching works. That means, Merle, everything
else is a distraction. Everything else is just wood,
hay, and stubble. God builds his church by the
preaching of the gospel, not by entertainment, not by programs,
not by ball teams, not by the shows, not by the clubs, all
the stuff that goes on in religion. All of that is just wood, hay,
and stubble. and everything gathered as wood,
hay and stubble shall be burned. Only the church of God built
by God, living stones joined together in Jesus Christ stand
upon the foundation, Christ Jesus. There's just one door of entrance
into the house and kingdom of God. It is Christ himself, the
master of the house. He says, I am the door. I am the door. You came in that
door or this one. I am the door. The door is the
way you get in. I am the door. By me, if any
man enter in, he shall be saved and shall go in and out and find
pasture. So that the door of entrance
into the church, It's not, as you folks have been raised all
your lives to think that it's being in the church family and
you get baptized and you're a little baby and you come into church.
No, baptism is not entranceway into the church. The door of
entrance into the church is Jesus Christ himself. You believe him,
you enter his church. You're born into his kingdom.
The kingdom of Christ, the gospel of it, is to be openly preached
and professed. Look at the next word here. The
church of God is established, prepared, firmly fixed in the
top of the mountains, in clear view and hearing of all. In every election cycle, we hear
politicians lying through all of their teeth. Their teeth must
be false. They talk about transparency.
This is going to be the most transparent administration you've
ever seen. That means we're gonna cover
it up best we can. Not in the church of God. Not
in the church of God. Unlike Mormonism, You ever notice
Mormon churches don't have any, church buildings don't have any
windows in them? That's because they don't want you to see what's
going on inside. Unlike Mormonism, unlike Papacy, where they have
secret conclaves, unlike Freemasonry, the Church of God is not a secret
society with secret orders. Our Lord compared his church
to a city set upon a hill which cannot be hid. Christ spoke openly
to all the world. The gospel preached by the apostles,
we're told, was not done in a corner. That which was everywhere spoken
against had been everywhere spoken of. I say all that to say this,
the message we preach It's not something to be hidden away in
a closet. It's not something that we just
discuss back in the pastor's office and try to not say too
much about it in public. It is not something that we clothe
in words that men can make to mean anything they want them
to mean. The message we preach is a banner lifted high, a standard
to be held up high as possible. not something to be hidden. Let
the whole world hear and every man know the wonderful works
of our God. Go ye therefore into all the
world and preach the gospel to every creature. Again, I wish
I could get the ear of every preacher. I recall when I was
just a young man, I had been preaching just a little bit.
I've never been known too much for mincing words. Matter of fact, when I was there,
a fellow talking to Shepard said, he doesn't mince words when he
preached. No, no, why mince words? My intention, Josh, is for you
to understand every word I speak, every word. Every doctrine revealed
in this word, every truth of God set forth in Holy Scripture.
A preacher said to me, an older man, he was about my age at the
time, he said, Don, son, you can preach these things in such
a way that folks don't know what you're saying. And you know,
I was shocked. I was shocked, I was 18 years
old, I was shocked. I said, what's the point in preaching?
I understood the point. You can go over yonder and preach
on election, as long as you don't use that exact word, folks won't
get too upset with it. You can go and talk about God's
plan, folks won't get too upset with it. You can go and talk
about Christ's effectual atonement, as long as you don't talk about
limited atonement, folks won't get too upset with it. But as
soon as they understand what you're saying, that's another
story. It is not our purpose to hide the things of God. It is our purpose to proclaim
the word of God and to proclaim it boldly. This is what God uses
for the building of his church. The church and kingdom of God
is firmly fixed, immovable, as sure to prevail as the majestic
mountains. It is built upon Christ, the
solid rock, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against
him. John Gill put it this way. The
church of God is immovable, being secured in the everlasting and
electing love of God, and in the unalterable covenant of grace,
founded upon the rock, Christ, and guarded by the mighty power
of God. Isaiah here declares that the
church of kingdom of God shall be exalted above the hills of
the earth. What a word. lifted up, established
upon the highest mountain, the most conspicuous thing in the
world. The truth of God shall prevail. The kingdom of God shall be exalted,
exalted above Mount Sinai and the earthly Jerusalem. Hold your
hands here and turn to Hebrews chapter 12. I want you to see
this, Hebrews chapter 12. children of God, let no one entice
you to return to Sinai. Let no one bring you back under
the yoke of the law. Let no one bring you back into
the ceremonial ritualistic pictures of the Old Testament. Hebrews
chapter 12 verse 18, For ye are not come, Ye are, if you believe God, you
haven't come to the mount that might be touched and that burned
with fire. nor unto blackness and darkness
and tempest, and the sound of a trumpet and the voice of words,
which voice they that heard entreated that the word should not be spoken
to them anymore, for they could not endure that which was commanded.
And if so much as a beast touched the mountain, it shall be stoned
or thrust through with a dart. And so terrible was the sight
that Moses said, I exceedingly fear and quake. Look at verse
22. But ye are come unto Mount Zion, and unto the city of the
living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company
of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn,
which are written in heaven, and to God the judge of all,
and to the spirits of just men made perfect, and to Jesus the
mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling
that speaketh better things than that of Abel. Churches exalted
above Sinai and exalted above all the religions of Antichrist
in this world I love the picture given in Revelation 11 The two
witnesses are slain the two faithful witnesses and left in the streets
and then they rise up God raises up the testimony of the gospel.
Right in the midst of this antichrist, apostate, accursed religious
age, he raises up these two witnesses and their enemies behold them
as God raises them up. The church of God is exalted
in the esteem of all chosen redeemed sinners called by his grace. Exalted above all the creation
of God. back in our text, Isaiah 2, look
at verse 2. Here's the second distinctive
glory of the Gospel Church, the glory of Zion. And all nations
shall flow into it. In the Old Testament, in the
Old Testament everything was limited to the Jews. Everything
limited to Abraham's physical scene. Everything limited just
to the Israelites. No one else had the word of God. No one else had a prophet. No
one else had the worship of God established in their midst. It
was all limited to just one small nation. But here the glory of
Zion is all nations shall flow into it. The church of God is
universal. It was never our Lord's intention
that his kingdom be limited to the Jewish nation alone or that
his church be limited to one religious sect. We live in the
midst of several sects that think they alone are the church and
people of God. The Campbellites started right
here in this part of the country. back in the 1800s, the Church
of Christ. And they think they alone are
the Church of God. The landmark Baptists think they
alone are the Church of God. They spell Baptist with a big
B, everybody else. Somehow another who's safe fits
into heaven, but not exactly on the first street. They sat
back in the back corner somewhere. God never intended such. From
the beginning, he was determined to have a church made up of men
and women of every nation, kindred, tribe, and tongue for the praise
of his name. The church of God is a universal
family, a universal kingdom, a universal body of believers.
Turn over to Ephesians chapter 1. Ephesians chapter 1. Our Lord Jesus, I'm sorry, chapter
two. Our Lord Jesus has broken down every wall of partition
that naturally separates men and women from one another in
this world. Ephesians 2 verse 11. Wherefore
remember that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh who
were called uncircumcision by that which is called the circumcision
in the flesh made by hands. that at that time you were without
Christ. Watch this now. You were aliens
from the commonwealth of Israel. You were strangers from the covenants
of promise. You had no hope. You were without
God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus, you
who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. Verse 14. For he is our peace. He is our peace. This is not
talking about our peace with God, though that's certainly
included. It's not talking about the peace of conscience we have
from God, though certainly included. It's talking about the peace
of God's people in the blessed fellowship of Christ. He is our
peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle
wall of partition between us. having abolished in his flesh
the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances, for
to make in himself a twain of two one new man, so making peace,
and that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross,
having slain the enmity thereby, and came and preached peace to
you which were far off and to them that were nigh. For through
him we both have access by one spirit unto the Father. In the
church and kingdom of God, in God's family, there is neither
Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian,
bond nor free, but Christ is all and in all. Now, what on
earth does that mean? I look out here and I see men
and women. But Paul said there's neither
male nor female. What on earth is he talking about? He's telling
us it doesn't matter. There's fleshly distinctions
in God's house don't matter. There's neither male nor female.
There's neither circumcision or uncircumcision, Jew or Gentile. There's neither bond nor free.
There's neither rich nor poor. There's neither learned nor unlearned.
There's neither black nor white, not in the church of God. Those
things don't matter in the house of God. They matter everywhere
else, not here, not in God's house. The door of God's church
is open to all. And all who enter in the door
enter upon the same grounds as sinners in need of grace. All
who enter by Christ the door enter as equals. And the equal
is not much. The equality is as low as you
get. All of us, sinners, nothing but
sinners, saved by free grace and free grace alone, none None
having any superiority over the other. All who enter the door
are equals and all are brethren at peace. People shall flow into
it, all nations. Oh, there's gonna be a great
day coming when all the nations of the world are gonna be gathered
into the millennial kingdom of our God. No, no. All nationalities, people out
of every nation, kindred, tribe, and tongue shall flow into it
like streams of water from the four corners of the earth. God
gathers his elect into his kingdom by his almighty grace. And yet
no one is forced in. All who come, come willingly. Thy people shall be willing in
the day of thy power. They flow into Zion upon the
river of grace. To Christ shall the gathering
of the people be. He is our mighty Shiloh. He is our banner. And God gathers
his elect unto him who is the banner, Christ Jesus. Now, when
I speak of the church being universal, I know that I will immediately
be castigated by some as denying the local church. You who know
me know better. that in no way detracts from
the importance, the blessedness of this local assembly, the necessity
of the local assembly. But the local assembly, this
little body of believers here, is not the totality of God's
church. God's church is made up of his
elect in every age, in every place, saved by the power of
his grace, washed in the blood of Christ, united with Christ.
How on earth can anyone imagine someone being united to Christ,
one with Christ, and not being a part of his body, the church?
Here's a third glory of Zion, a third distinctive glory of
God's church, it's unity. Look at verse three, Isaiah chapter
two. And many people shall come and say, come ye. Let us go up
to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob.
And he will teach us of his ways. And we will walk in his paths.
For out of Zion shall go forth the law and the word of the Lord
from Jerusalem. Now here Isaiah describes the
mutual love and encouragement, help and assistance God's people
give to one another. Many people shall go and say,
come ye, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord. Let's go
to the house of God. Brother Darwin Pruitt has, I
think almost from the very beginning of his ministry in Taylor at
the church there, had these words at the head of every bulletin.
I was glad when they said unto me, let us go into the house
of the Lord. I was glad there was a place
to go. I was glad that somebody asked
me to go. And I was glad God gave me an
inclination to go. I was glad they said to me, let's
go to the house of the Lord. How many times have you ever
come to God's house and wished you hadn't come? I've gone to
a lot of places I wished I hadn't gone. I've never come to worship
God and wished I hadn't come. Here is evangelism at its best.
Children of God, you who have tasted that the Lord is gracious.
Redeemed sinners, let every redeemed soul say to his neighbor, come
ye, let us go to the house of God. The very best thing you
can do for your family, the very best thing you can do for your
neighbors is to encourage them to come to the house of God. When they come to visit you,
don't stay home with them. You will only harm them. When
they come to visit you, don't let them take you away from the
house of God. Bring them to the house of God. Don't force, no,
no, no, don't try to force folks to come. Now, in my house, as
long as I'm paying the bills and my daughter's standing in
my roof, she's going to the house of God with me. And nothing gonna
interfere with it. But the family comes, sure like
you're with us. No, I think I'll stay home and
rest this morning. Okay, all right. But encourage folks to come here.
This is the place where God speaks to sinners by His Word. I have never taken a survey.
I won't start now. But I can't think of more than
one or two people that I know right now who were converted
in some way other than in the public house of God hearing the
preaching of the gospel in the assembly of God's saints. Were
you? God saves sinners by the preaching
of the word. The very best work of evangelism
you can do is say to your neighbor, to your son, your daughter, your
mother, your father, your brother, your sister, come, let's go to
the house of God. Let's go to the house of God.
Here is the primary object of public worship. He will teach
us of His ways. In gospel churches, sinners are
taught of God by the preaching of the gospel, by the faithful
exposition of Holy Scripture, by preaching Jesus Christ and
Him crucified in all the scriptures. Yes, God Himself, God the Holy
Ghost is our teacher and He teaches us of His ways. He teaches us
of his ways of grace, how God saves sinners by the sacrifice
of his darling son, by the gift of his grace, by the gift of
faith in his son. He teaches us the ways of his
providence, all the wonders of God's providence. And by his
word, teaches us the way of obedience to him. Here's the resolution
of every heaven born soul. The determination of every God
taught person. We will walk in his paths. If God will show me his way and
give me the grace to do so, I will walk in his way. Oh Lord, graciously order my
steps. force me in all the affairs of
my life to walk in your paths, to walk in your way. That church
is truly united to Christ, which is united in seeking the salvation
of God's elect, in seeking instruction from God the Holy Spirit, and
seeking obedience to the will of God. Here's a fourth glory,
a fourth distinction by which Zion's glory is set forth. That's
the power of the church. The means by which God saves
his people, the means by which he teaches them his ways, the
means by which he leads them in his paths is the preaching
of the gospel. Verse three, for out of Zion
shall go forth the law and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. The power and the glory of God's
church is not its size. We're impressed with that. I
am, and you are. We see big things and we think,
boy, that's great, that's great. The power and the glory of God's
church is not its size. It's not its wealth, it's not
its talents, and it's certainly not its pastor. The power and
glory of God's church is the gospel of the grace of God which
we preach. So as much as in me is, Paul
writes, I'm ready to preach the gospel, for I'm not ashamed of
the gospel of Christ. It is the power of God unto salvation
to everyone that believeth. The gospel of Christ is the law
of God in his kingdom. It's described in this book as
a law of faith, a law of love. fulfilling of the Law of Moses. The Gospel of Christ is the Word
of God by which chosen redeemed sinners are saved and born into
His kingdom. This is the rod of his strength.
Send out of Zion into all the world. The Lord shall send the
rod of thy strength out of Zion. Rule thou in the midst of thine
enemies. And by this word, he causes his
enemies to bow to him. By this word, he rules over his
enemies. By this word, he governs their
lives. I've never attempted to draw
up rules and regulations by which believers ought to live. Rather, I endeavor to preach
the gospel of God's grace to you and make you to know how
good, how gracious, how magnificent God has been to you and me. How marvelous is His infinite
love revealed in the redemption of our souls in the saving of
such things as we are. And if God Almighty will by His
grace make you know these things, you will be well ruled by the
rod of His strength, by the gospel of His grace. Here's the fifth
distinct glory of Zion. Christ is the exalted head of
His church. Isaiah saw Christ exalted as
head over all things for his church and he shall judge Among
the nations and shall rebuke many people now turn to Ephesians
chapter 1. I want you to see this Ephesians
the first chapter Christ is the head of his church
Not the Pope not some earthly monarch not the pastor, but Christ
himself He is the head of all things for his church. Look at Ephesians 1 21. He's
exalted far above all principality and power and might and dominion. And every name that is named,
not only in this world, but also in that which is to come. Christ
is, he's head over everything. And God has put all things under
his feet. Head given him gave him to be
head over all things. What's this to the church? He's the head over all things
to the church He's the head of his church and he's the governor
of the universe for his church He whose word goes forth out
of Zion Shall by that word subdue his enemies to himself and rule
over them He does so in wisdom and justice ordering and ruling
the affairs of the world for the good of his church. In wisdom
and justice, in wisdom and righteousness, in wisdom and equity, in wisdom
and that which is right, the Lord Jesus sits on his throne
and rules the world, decides all affairs, decides
every election, decides every event of providence, determined
by him from eternity for his church, for the good of his church,
the glory of his church, the building of his church, and the
completion of his church. He rebukes and restrains everything
and everyone that opposes the interest of his kingdom. That
means nobody has ever or shall ever accomplish anything to deter,
hinder, or in any way slow up the building of God's church
and kingdom. And by His Spirit, He makes His enemies to be His
servants, convincing and converting many by His almighty grace of
sin, of righteousness and judgment. Taking the things of Christ and
showing them to us, the Holy Spirit governs our lives. Number
six, look at verse four, Isaiah 2.4. Here's another aspect of great
glory of Zion, the distinguishing glory of God's church. It's peace. And he shall judge among the
nations, and shall rebuke many people, and they shall beat their
swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks. Nations
shall not lift up sword against nations. Neither shall they learn
war anymore. Here, Isaiah describes the great
peace that comes upon men and women by the gospel when the
Prince of Peace rules among them. This is not talking about some
dreamy-eyed prophecy of some utopian millennial age when all
the nations of the world sign a peace treaty and everybody
gets along well. This is a prophecy of that which is experienced
right now in the church and kingdom of God. A prophecy of that which
is experienced right now in the church and kingdom of God. The gospel of Christ makes peace
and destroys enmities, those things that divide men. The gospel
of Christ reconciles those who are natural foes. For many, many
years I went down to the Cherokee Indian Reservation in North Carolina
where Brother Tim James is pastor of the Sequoia Church and preached
to those folks. I have a lot of friends who are
Cherokee Indians. Now in case you don't know anything
about history, lots of people in this country have a gripe
about not being treated fairly. Lots of folks do. And some with
more or less foundation. None have a greater reason to
be upset with the government of the United States than the
Indians who possessed this land before we came. And among the
Indians, none more greatly abused than the Cherokee Indians. And
I've got some folks there that love me and I love them. They're
called brethren in Christ. And all those things that would
naturally divide us don't matter. You understand what I'm saying?
They just don't matter. For better than 10 years, I went
every year to Kingston, Jamaica, and preached for Brother Aaron
Dumas in the church there in Kingston. And those black folks
became dear friends. I still hear from Aaron fairly
regularly, dear friend. Dear friend, how can that be? How can that be? Those are black
people and you're a white southern boy. How can that be? They don't
matter. Not in the kingdom of God. Not
in the kingdom of God. I'll be going down in just a
few weeks down to Mexico. And there's a lot of fussing
and squabbling between Mexicans and Americans right now. Fact
is, always has been. Always has been. And I've been
going down there for 40 years now. And some of us have grown
up together as pastors. Our churches have grown up together.
And we have a dear, blessed relationship. And I can only communicate to
them through a translator. I can say hello, good morning,
good day, good night, and that's about it. And everything else
through a translator. But when I walk in the room,
those fellas just smile like they'd just seen their brother.
They hadn't seen him in a year. That's exactly how long it'd
be. Just a year. How can there be such great,
blessed peace in Christ? Those things that naturally divide
human beings don't matter, don't matter. Now, I don't know what
to say or not say with regard to all the political and legislative
things folks do to try to have people get along. But I can tell
you from my experience on this earth in 66 years, none of them
have ever worked. None of them have ever worked.
Some of you have been school teachers, some of you have been
involved in various things employing folks. Have you ever seen any
form of legislation work to bring people together as one? Have
you ever seen it happen? I remember when it started bussing
in Winston-Salem. I was still in junior high school.
Started bussing folks, trying to mix all the races together.
We're gonna get this thing so everybody gets along well. I
remember the first time black folks moved in on some of the
streets in Winston-Salem. And you know how happy they were? They
were scared to death and had reason to be. Had reason to be. Well, how can this be resolved? Come to Christ. And you'll find
in Christ, nothing matters but Christ. Nothing matters but grace. Nothing matters but the gift
of God. Nothing matters but the glory
of God. The gospel of Christ makes men and women peaceable.
It softens their hearts and sweetens their spirits. The love of Christ
would shed abroad in the heart of the heaven born soul. constrains
the sinner to love another sinner, saved by the same grace, washed
in the same blood, robed in the same righteousness. By this shall
all men know that you're my disciples, if you have love one for another. Now, let me show you one more
distinctive glory of Zion, one more distinctive glory of God's
church, and that is our responsibility. Our responsibility. I am often
accused of being lopsided on God's sovereignty, not saying
enough about responsibility. So let me say something about
our responsibility. Look at the last verse of our text and observe
what it says. Oh, house of Jacob, come ye. Let us walk in the light of the
Lord. The prophet of God here issues
a call to all the house of Jacob. All those men and women chosen,
redeemed, saved and kept by the grace of God. Whatever others
may do, in the light of what God's done for us, let us walk
in the light of the Lord. Walk humbly in the light of his
grace. Walk circumspectly as children
of the light. seek in all things to honor God. Seek in all things to honor the
Savior, to avoid causing reproach to the Gospel. Walk peaceably
in the light of His peace. Now, let me show you a little
more what that's talking about. Turn to Micah's prophecy. I told
you in the beginning of this message, Micah gave us the same
prophecy in almost the same words. But here is a slight alteration
in verses four and five of Micah chapter four. Here we see the
confidence with which we ought to walk with God our Savior.
The confidence with which we ought to walk in his paths as
we make our sojourn through this world. We have no confidence
in ourselves. We have no confidence in the
flesh, but oh, we have every reason to have confidence in
our God. Look at Michael chapter four,
verse four. But they shall sit every man under his vine and
under his fig tree, and none shall make them afraid, for the
mouth of the Lord of hosts has spoken. For all people will walk
every one in the name of his God. Us too, we will walk in
the name of the Lord our God forever and ever. I never read Micah four verse
four, but what I don't think of unusual days when I was a
boy. We'd go down in southeastern
North Carolina, visit my grandparents. They had a large tobacco farm
down there. And as most southerners, they
built porches all the way around the house. Had a big porch all
the way around. The house wasn't much, but it
had a great porch. Had porch on north, south, east,
and west. That's so you could sit in the
shade any time of the day. And we'll go down there on some
day, some days, and have a good southern lazy day. And we'd sit
down in the shade with fresh lemonade, maybe watermelon, and
just sit peacefully. Ah, what a picture, what a picture. That's exactly how Micah says
God's people are to walk in the Lord, in the light of the Lord
in this day. Every man sitting under his vine
and under his fig tree, and none shall make them afraid. We have
no reason to fear anything, ever. My dear brother Harry Graham
used to say to me, if I could live a tithe of what I'd preach,
I'd be in pretty good shape. Oh, I'd like you to tithe of
that. We have no reason to fear anything ever. I just called
David's eye, you know what he's going through? You got no reason
to fear anything. I tell you what's more difficult,
I got Teresa's eye. Honey, you got no reason to fear
anything. None. What God's doing is for
you. What God's doing is for you.
So let us walk in the name of the Lord. We sang it a little
bit ago, that great hymn of John Newton's. Glorious things of
thee are spoken, Zion city of our God. He whose word cannot
be broken formed thee for his own abode. On the rock of ages
founded, what can shake thy sure repose? With salvation's walls
surrounded, thou may smile at all thy foes. Amen.