Nahum 1.15 Behold, upon the mountains
the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth
peace. Behold, upon the mountains the
feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace. Though this world is wicked and
has turned its back upon God, And though God's wrath is kindled
against his enemies, and although God is almighty and can brush
them aside with one flick of his finger, nevertheless, God
has chosen to save a people. God has chosen to be merciful
and to be gracious unto sinners who deserve his wrath and judgment. Nahum says, who can stand before
his indignation? And who can abide in the fierceness
of his anger? His fury is poured out like fire
and the rocks are thrown down by him. This God is almighty. and furious against sin, and
none by their own strength can stand before Him. Yet He is a
God of grace, who has sent His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, into
this world to save sinners. The Lord is good, a stronghold
in the day of trouble, and He knoweth them that trust in Him.
He's a God of grace, As we saw in the Book of Micah, He is a
God who delights in mercy. And He sends His Gospel into
this world of rebellion, into this world of sin and darkness,
into this world of sinners and sin, to declare the message of
God's grace in His own Son. in that he looked upon this world
of darkness but he looked upon a people in the midst of it who
he set his love upon whom he would save he sent his own son
into this world to take the wrath of God due unto that people and
to take it upon himself and to suffer in their stead to drink
the cup of God's wrath, to be crucified, to die in the place
of sinners, that those who were dead in sin might in Him be brought
to life, that those who deserve the justice, the wrath of God's
righteousness, should be washed of their sin, cleansed of their
iniquity, and made in that judgment to be the very righteousness
of God in Jesus Christ. That righteousness which met
Him in judgment against their sins was made to be theirs. So
God declares in this world of darkness His gospel, and He sends
forth preachers of that gospel. who bring good tidings and publish
peace. because they come with a message
that though we are lost in sin and though we are dead in sin
and though we have no strength to live right before God or to
work out a righteousness of our own which is pleasing unto God,
though we in our own strength cannot turn His anger and cannot
stand before His indignation, nevertheless, there are good
tidings to be heard by those who are given ears to hear because
he has met that indignation and that wrath, that anger and that
judgment in Christ for those who are in him and believe on
him. The Lord is good a stronghold
in the day of trouble he has sent forth his son to deliver
that people from the wrath to come and that son that lord jesus
christ is for them a stronghold In Him they'll be delivered from
the day of trouble. In Him, like Noah in the ark,
they will be brought through the storm of God's wrath. And
the storm will pour down upon the ark, upon Christ, the stronghold,
and not touch them. They will be saved. Because in
the Gospel, and in the preaching of the Gospel, He has saved them. that good tidings might be brought
their way, and that they might be brought to peace with Almighty
God. So behold, behold upon the mountains
the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth
peace. Behold upon the mountains the
feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace. We're called here to look, to
behold, to behold in a certain place, to behold a certain one,
and to behold the feet of that one. That one that brings good
tidings, that preaches peace, who is upon the mountains. Where
are we called to look? Upon the mountains. Behold upon
the mountains the feet of him that bringeth good tidings. Why
upon the mountains? Because we in the depths of sin
here below because we in the depths of sin here below in the
darkness and the depths of iniquity In this earth, in this world,
we who are so small, we who are so weak, we who are so lost, can do nothing to save ourselves
but to look up. And we're called to look up.
Look up to the heavens. Look up to the heights. Look
up to where salvation is to be found. It's not found on the
earth. It's not found in man. It's not
found in yourself. It's not found here below. It
will come. It will come from above. It will
come from the heights. It will come from heaven. Stop
looking within to yourself. Stop looking at your own strengths. Stop looking at your own abilities
or righteousnesses. Stop thinking your own goodness
and works will do yourself any good before Almighty God. They're
filthy in his eyes. even though righteousnesses are
as filthy rags, they're of nothing worth and there's no strength
in self, no strength in man. But there are good tidings, tidings
of salvation and peace which come from above upon the mountains. We're called to behold upon the
mountains for this is from whence salvation comes, that place where
the earth meets the heavens, the highest heights of the earth,
where heaven touches the earth, where time meets eternity, where
God meets with man. Psalm 36.6 tells us thy righteousness
is like the great mountains. God's righteousness is like the
great mountains, it stands up high, it's high and mighty and
glorious. His righteousness is perfect. But the great mountains remind
us of the heights from which God's grace descends, the height
from which his righteousness is delivered, and the height
to which he brings fallen men in salvation. Behold, look up,
look out from this world, look up into the heavens, look away
from time into eternity, consider your future, You're born in this world. You
grow. You're soon a man or a woman.
Perhaps you're married, you have children. You grow old. If you're spared, if you're given
health, you get older. You fade away and you die. and you pass from time into eternity
in but a moment. If God is gracious to give us
a long life, our lives of about 70, 80, 90 years are but a moment. a drop in the ocean compared
to the ages past and the ages to come even just in terms of
time this world has been here for generations before you and
will be here generations afterwards perhaps your life is nothing
and in comparison with eternity which knows no beginning or end
it's just a blip And yet we're so consumed with the here and
now, so consumed with this world and our life and what we're going
to do, as though it's so important, when it is so insignificant and
worthless, so momentary and so fleeting. You take time to plan
for your life, for what you will do this week, next week, next
year, when you retire. But what time do you take for
eternity? What time do you spend to consider
eternity, that place in which you will dwell forever? Where will you spend eternity? Where will you dwell in eternity
to come? Where will your immortal soul
rest? Look up. Behold upon the mountains. Look up to the mountains. And if you do, and if God opens
your eyes to see him, you will behold one who brings good tidings
and publisheth peace. There is an allusion in here
to those who are sent to preach God's Gospel, coming, preaching
the Gospel, preaching the good tidings and peace of God to sinners
in Jesus Christ. But truly the Him here, the one
of whom this passage speaks, is not simply the preacher but
THE preacher, the Lord Jesus Christ. He who comes preaching
good tidings and peace. The preacher, the preacher who
sends those preachers, who sends them with his gospel. And he stands upon the mountains. The gospel he comes with. That
message of salvation, that message of grace, is that message which
Paul described in these terms. I am not ashamed of the gospel
of Christ for it is the power of God unto salvation. to the
Jew first and also to the Greek. For therein in the Gospel is
the righteousness of God revealed. This Gospel is good tidings to
you because it brings salvation. But it brings salvation because
it reveals the righteousness of God. And this is why we're called
to behold this one whose feet are upon the mountains. Because
he stands upon mountains which the psalmist likes the righteousness
of God unto. Thy righteousness is like the
great mountains. He stands upon righteousness
and his gospel stands upon righteousness. and he comes with good tidings
of peace, walking upon the mountains because that's the foundation
of his gospel. He doesn't come to declare peace
unto wicked sinners at the expense of his justice or his righteousness,
but he comes to preach peace because he's made peace. He comes to preach salvation
because he's wrought salvation. He's dealt with the sinner's
sin. It's been judged. It's been taken
away. It's been blotted out. When Christ
died, he died bearing the sins of his people. He died being
made sin that they might be made the righteousness of God. God
judged them, He judged their sins, He judged their iniquity
in the Son. He slew him under the sword of
justice. He revealed His righteousness
in judgment upon His Son. It is the cross and the execution
of Christ in the place of his people as their substitute that
manifested, that brought to light the righteousness of God. That's
where God's righteousness met us in Jesus Christ if we are
his. When his people were united under
him in death and he with them as one mysteriously united like
Eve was united with Adam one flesh when they were united as
it were in the death of Christ made one then he as their husband
took upon himself her sin their sin united to his bride he took
upon himself their sin her sin And God judged him for it. God slew him for it. His righteousness
was brought forth in judgment. That relationship that Christ
had with his bride, that relationship brought forth the righteousness
of God. And that relationship brought
forth God's judgment. And that is the foundation of
the Gospel. of good tidings and peace. Because when God's righteousness
was brought forth against his people in Christ, it destroyed
what they were. It destroyed their old man of
sin in Adam. It judged their sins. It blotted
them out. It wiped out sin. It made an
end of sin, made an end of transgressions. It brought in for them righteousness
in Christ. They were washed clean and made
to be the righteousness of God in Him. And there's the ground
of their salvation and unless God is just to deal with our
sins, to judge our sins, to blot out our sins, there could be
no salvation. A gospel which does not deal
with our sins in this way. A gospel which is not just. a
gospel which preaches love at the expense of justice. Mercy
at the expense of righteousness is no gospel and there's no peace
in it and no salvation through it. But here's the foundation
of the gospel that God judged his people's sins in Christ and
blotted them out in entirety. So Christ stood upon mountains. Behold upon the mountains the
feet of him that bringeth good tidings. Good tidings that publisheth
peace. Peace. Salvation. Oh what wondrous joy there is
to know this peace and this deliverance and this salvation when you consider
the backdrop to which these words are written. Those things we've
spoken of, that vengeance of God against his enemies, that
wrath of God that burns against the sin of mankind, that he's
a jealous God. He will not have iniquity in
his presence. He will not have you with your
sin in his presence. Your sin must be taken away. And when you consider what you
are, you're just sin through and through. That's what God
dealt with in Christ at the cross and it's by taking that away
that he brought him peace. When you consider how great our
sin is, you'll have a glimpse at how great his salvation is. That he could bring us to peace
with a God who is so righteous. With a God whose righteousness
is likened to the mountains that stand high above the earth. Consider the greatest of the
mountains, the Himalayas, Everest, the heights to which they reach,
the difficulty there is to climb them. And you'll consider how
great God's righteousness is and how great his gospel is,
that he could bring in a righteousness for those who were so lost in
sin. Yes, there is peace. God is slow
to anger and great in power and will not at all acquit the wicked
but he has brought in peace for those that trust in him. He knows
those that trust in him. He's chosen them. He's looked
upon the sons of Adam and there are a people amongst them who
are his. He knows them by name. Perhaps
He knows you by name. And He knows whether or not you
trust in Him. And He knows whether or not your
claim to trust in Him is true. He knows whether you're His.
And He knows whether He's led you to that stronghold from which
you will be spared His wrath in the day of trouble. Are you
in that stronghold? When his wrath comes down upon
this world when time is brought to its conclusion and this world
is burnt up in fire where will you be? Have you heard his peace? Will
you be in that stronghold? Behold upon the mountains the
feet of him that bringeth good tidings, and publisheth peace. On the mountains, he that brings
good tidings, the Son of God in his gospel. he whose voice
brings everlasting life, he who brought in everlasting salvation
for his own, he who is a stronghold to deliver them from the wrath
of God, he who publishes peace. Behold upon the mountains the
feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace. This one who came into this world
to save sinners. This one who stands upon the
mountains. This one who brings peace in
his gospel. Look at his feet. Why are we
brought to consider their, his feet? Why are we brought to consider
the feet of Jesus Christ? Because of what those feet did.
Because of where they went. Because of where they trod. Because
of where they stand. Because of what they felt. Because
of what they suffered. How did this man bring peace? How did this man bring peace? How did this mediator between
God and men, the man Christ Jesus, bring peace? By his cross, through
his death, when he was nailed to the tree and crucified and
slain between two transgressors, two thieves, crucified as a common
criminal, hung up to suffer an awful, awful death, hung for
hours in the midday sun, and hung by his hands and his feet. Those feet were pierced, pierced
for sinners. If you're his, they were pierced
for you. Those feet felt pain to deliver
you from your sins. Those feet were pierced through. And the Gospel has declared what
those peace would do in those hours of death upon the cross
from the very beginning. For when Satan, the serpent,
deceived the woman and by her Adam in the garden and caused
them to fall and caused sin and death to enter into man and all
mankind. God when he found the man and
the woman hiding in the garden because they knew they were guilty
and they knew they no longer had any covering for righteousness
because they knew that their iniquity was exposed before God
he came and he found them and he found that the serpent that
Satan had beguiled them and he said to him I will put enmity
between thee and the woman and between thy seed and her seed
It shall bruise thy head and thou shalt bruise his heel. It shall bruise thy head and
thou shalt bruise his heel. Here God spoke of the seed of
the woman, that one, that man who should be born In ages hence,
that Saviour whom he would send into this world, the Son of God,
her seed should crush the serpent's head. It shall bruise thy head
and thou shalt bruise his heel. Oh, at the cross, Satan did his
most to destroy the Son of God. Here was his opportunity. Here
was his hour. Here was his moment to bring
the accusations of God's law against all those people for
whom Christ suffered. Here was his moment to put the
Son of God to death and he did all that he could. He brought
every scathing accusation against that people. He brought all the
might of God's law and justice upon Christ. But all he could
do was bruise Christ's heel, for it was those feet which stood
upon the mountains, upon the righteousness of God. And they
stood and crushed the heads of him who sought to destroy. For
that adversary, that accuser, knew much about God's law, he
knew much about righteousness and he knew much about using
it to accuse God's people. But the feet of Jesus Christ
stood upon the mountains and stood upon that righteousness
and stood upon the head of that accuser and destroyed him. Yes, his feet, his heel was bruised. Yes, his feet were pierced. But
in being pierced he wrought salvation. In being pierced he wrought righteousness. He brought the righteousness
of God to light in the gospel. And he took away his people's
sins. Those feet were pierced. Those feet we read elsewhere
in the gospels. were also washed, washed by that
woman in the Pharisee's house who loved the Lord Jesus. That
wicked woman, that sinner, that picture of his church, of his
bride, who came behind him and washed his feet and washed them
with her own tears and anointed them and washed them with her
hair She loved him and she knew what those feet
would do for her so she washed them. Oh have you beheld his feet?
Have you like her by faith washed his feet with your tears? Have
you sorrowed over your sin and loved the one that put an end
to your sin in righteousness? Have you washed his feet by faith?
Because that woman who washed his feet was washed by his blood
in return. Those feet that were pierced,
those feet that bled, that side of the Saviour out of which blood
poured forth, she was washed by that blood because he in righteousness
washed her sin away. Oh the union we see here between
Christ and his bride. We saw it at the beginning, we
saw the seed of the woman Christ prophesied of, that he should
crush the serpent's head. We saw at the beginning Adam
and Eve together in the garden. And here we see at the end, the
second Adam, the last Adam and his bride, united in death, united
in new life and united in worship. The first man and his wife were
united in the transgression at the beginning. And what she did,
he took as his own. And when she fell, he fell. But
they were just a picture of that last Adam and his wife, who we'd
see at the cross, who in falling at the cross together would take
away sin and would rise up again out of the grave righteous, washed,
cleansed. His feet were pierced. his feet
were washed but his feet stood upon the mountains and they stand
there upon the mountains today from whence he declares his gospel. Yes those feet were pierced at
the cross when he suffered for his people but they were also
burnt in the fires of God's wrath at that cross. They were not
only pierced, they did not only shed blood, he did not only shed
blood for his own, he did not only wash his people's sins away,
but he took in union with them their sin, their corruption. That sin and death that entered
into them by Adam, when Adam sinned, And he took that corruption
and that could not be washed away. That needed to be destroyed. It needed to be burned up. And
so those feet knew what it was to stand in the midst of fire.
To stand in the fires of God's wrath and to be burnt. That sin
should be consumed and burnt away. So when we see this one
who stands upon the mountains in the vision that John had in
the book of Revelation having risen again from the dead having
walked through the fires of God's wrath having stood in the altar
having been consumed and then rising again in everlasting life
when he stands victorious and glorious in glory above having
risen from the dead and ascended to rule over his enemies the
vision that John has of this wonderful saviour in his glorified
state is of one the son of man who was clothed with a garment
down to his foot and girt about the paps with a golden girdle
his head and his hairs were white like wool as white as snow and
his eyes were as a flame of fire and his feet his feet were like
unto fine brass and his feet likened to fine
brass as if they burned in a furnace and his voice as the sound of
many waters. These feet were like fine brass,
they'd been burnt in a furnace, burnt in the furnace of God's
wrath and anger and indignation against the sin of his own, the
sin of his people. If you're his, your sin. my sin. His feet were burnt because
of that sin and it was at these feet that John fell down as dead
and when I saw him I fell at his feet as dead. Oh what a sight of the Saviour,
what a sight to see those feet Those feet that trod the furnace
for John. Those feet that felt the fury
of God's wrath is righteousness for John. Those feet that took
John's sin away and made him in Christ to be the righteousness
of God. What a sight! Have you seen it? Behold! That sight made John
fall down as dead. He fell at his feet. And how
often in the Gospels do we read of those who are brought to Christ,
brought to Jesus, who fell down at his feet. when they knew who
he was, when they knew who this man was who stood before them,
when they knew his divinity, that this was the Son of God,
the Messiah, the one who would come, the one who would die for
them, the one who would save them and deliver them, when they
knew his power, they fell at his feet. Oh, where are you? Where are you? Have you ever
fallen down at the feet of this one? Or are you still standing up,
full of your pride and arrogance of life, full of your own self-righteousness,
full of mighty thoughts of self which will just lead you into
the grave and condemnation? You won't stand. you're ever
given a sight of this one and know how great he is and how
small you are. If he by grace opens your eyes
and says unto your soul behold upon the mountains the feet of
him that bringeth good tidings and publisheth peace. And if
you see him, see him stood on the mountain, see those feet
that were pierced, that were burnt for sinners like you, then
you'll fall down at his feet and you'll worship. And you,
like that woman, will wash those feet in tears. You'll wash them. Behold upon the mountains. Yes, he stands up high. His head is high above in the
glory, but his feet stand down here upon the earth. This man
mediates between God and men. He's the man Christ Jesus. He's the one who can lead us
from earth unto heaven. He's the one who can deliver
us from this earthly realm and the iniquity within. He's the
one who bridges the gulf between Almighty God and men. That gulf
that our sin opened up. That gulf that the transgression
of Adam in the garden opened up. That gulf that cannot be
bridged by our own strength. He bridges it. He brings peace. And he's not a far off. He's
ascended to glory. He's finished the work of salvation. He rose from the dead having
conquered sin, death and hell. He was victorious. But he's not
a far off. In the gospel his feet stand
on this earth. They stand upon the mountains. and he comes in this world to
you wherever you may be he comes with the sound of his gospel
he comes bringing good tidings he comes publishing peace he
treads on the earth he comes now in his gospel but there was a day when he trod
as a man among men when he walked as a man among men these feet
walked on this earth before they were nailed to that tree they
walked They walked, they took that man, they took God incarnate
in the body of Jesus Christ. They took almighty God who made
all things. God who is immense was contracted
to a span. He dwelt in Christ. and he walked among men wonder
of wonder that God could dwell amongst men yet he did and he
walked amongst men he travelled he went there he went here and
men beheld him these feet walked on the earth
they felt the heat of this earth They felt the sharpness of this
earth. They felt the pain of this earth. They felt the weariness of a
long day's walking. He lived in a day when people
didn't have motor cars, went to travel around, they walked
for miles. Those feet felt the pain and
the frailty of humanity. He knows how small we are. He knows our frame. He knows
by personal experience our weakness and our limited capabilities. He knows he reaches from the
divine heights of God, the eternal God, to the span of man, to us in
our humanity. with our weaknesses and our tiredness
and our lack of strength and how small we feel to be. He knows,
he's walked amongst men, he's a real man. And those feet walked
on the earth. And they also walked on the water. In Matthew 14 we read that wonderful
account of when this one came and walked upon the water of
the ocean. When the disciples were sailing
across upon the water and the wind blew and they were in trouble and
he walked unto them. Matthew 14, 22, and straightway
Jesus constrained his disciples to get into a ship and to go
before him unto the other side while he sent the multitudes
away. Oh, what a picture. He sends
the multitudes away. But out of those multitudes he
has a people he's chosen, his disciples. Those multitudes wanted
nothing from Jesus but earthly gain, but they despised and rejected
him for who he was. But he had a people, a few chosen
amongst men, his elect, his chosen disciples. And he puts them into
a ship and tells them to go the other side, sail across the waters,
sail as it were from this world to the next, go across the span
of sin and death, go across the other side. And when he had sent
the multitudes away, he went up into a mountain apart to pray. And when the evening was come,
he was there alone. Is that not where he is today?
Here you are on this earth, perhaps struggling to get across to the
other side. And Christ has gone alone into
the mountain to pray. He's there with his Father. And
here you are. And there you are, as it were,
like the disciples in the ship in the midst of the sea. And
the waves begin to toss you about For the wind is contrary And
everything seems set against you And you discover you've no
ability You can't get to the other side The storms of life
are coming your way Your sin is tossing you about Judgment
is tossing you about The wind is contrary And you can feel
yourself sinking. And you can see the ship sinking.
And you can see the desperate state in which you're in. And
Jesus isn't there, he's in a mountain alone. What are you going to
do? Well, there were the disciples
in the ship, tossed with waves, for the wind was contrary. But
in the fourth watch of the night, Jesus went unto them walking
on the sea. These feet came unto them. He walked on the sea. He had power to walk on the sea
and not sink. They, like you and I, when we
walk upon the sea of sin, We sink into its depths. We've got
no power to rise up above its grip on us. When we stand in
the sea of sin, it's all around us and it plunges over our head.
We can't get out. But Jesus never once fell into
the sea. He never once fell into sin. He was above it. He stood on
the mountains of righteousness and He walked upon the sea. He
walked upon the waters. He stood upon them. He was not
overcome by them. And the disciples saw Him and
were troubled, saying, It's a spirit. But He cries out, Be of good
cheer, it is I. I come with good tidings. I come
from that mountain on which I pray to you here in the sea. I come down from the mountain
walking unto you. It's the same feet. It's me. It's I. Be of good cheer. I come with good tidings. I come
publishing peace. And Peter answered and said,
Lord, if it be thou bid me come unto thee on the water. And he
said, come. And when Peter was come down
out of the ship, he walked on the water to go to Jesus. But
when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid and beginning to
sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me. Peter, full of confidence,
thought he could walk to Christ. But he felt himself sinking. And there we are by nature crying
out, Lord save me. That's the only cry we can cry. Left to ourselves we sink. But
if God puts any faith in your heart, you'll shout out to him,
save me. And immediately Jesus stretched
forth his hand and caught him and said unto him, O thou of
little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt? And when they were
coming to the ship, the wind ceased. Then they that were in
the ship came and worshipped him, saying, Of a truth, thou
art the Son of God. He came down from the mountains,
he walked upon the waters, and he spake, and the wind ceased. He brought peace, he brought
good tidings to those who were sinking in the waters of sin
and death. As Nahum 1.3 says, The Lord is
slow to anger, and great in power, and will not at all equip the
wicked. The Lord hath his way in the
whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of his
feet. He's almighty. He can deliver
from sin. He can deliver from judgment.
He brings peace. These feet wrought salvation. They were pierced for us, his
people. They were burned. They've walked
upon the waters, not in the waters. And they stand upon the mountains
and they crushed the adversary underfoot. They have overcome
every foe. They've overcome our sins. by
washing us with their blood. They've overcome our sin by being
burnt in the fire. They've overcome Satan by crushing
him underfoot. They've overcome hell. They've
overcome death. such that Christ, to his disciples,
having died, having risen again, could say unto those that doubted,
Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Handle me
and see, for a spirit hath not flesh and bones as ye see me
have. And when he had thus spoken,
he showed them his hands and his feet. Oh, has he showed you
his hands and his feet? Have you beheld upon the mountains
the feet of him that bringeth good tidings and that publisheth
peace? How glorious are these feet! These feet have trod this world,
but they stand in heaven's glory today. and all his enemies will
be put under those feet. As 1 Corinthians 15 tells us,
he must reign till he have put all enemies under his feet. You can either bow down at them
and behold them and worship him whose feet they are or you can
be put underneath them and crushed under them if you reject him
and despise him and hate him. Ephesians 1 tells us, He hath
put all things under His feet and gave Him to be the head over
all things to the church. He reigns, He's glorious. Hebrews 2.8, Thou hast put all
things in subjection under His feet. For Him that He put all
in subjection under Him, He left nothing that is not put under
Him. But now we see not yet all things put under him. Behold
now, as we walk through this world, we see his enemies, we
see those who hate his gospel, we see their despising of him,
we see how they hate those who love him, we see how they silence
the gospel, and his enemies seem to have strength, they seem to
have a voice. but I tell you that there is
that coming that day when all his enemies will be under his
feet and if you're one of those enemies you'll be there crushed
under his feet if you fight against him but may God have mercy upon
you to open your eyes by grace to put faith in your heart that
you might bow at his name, bow at the feet of Jesus Christ,
and that you, by grace, might behold upon the mountains the
feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace. Amen.