We're just going to look at verses
7 and 8 of this 52nd chapter of Isaiah. We looked last week
at the first six verses, and as I started looking through
this and studying this, I'm thinking I'll do well to get through these
two. This is incredible. Beautiful feet bringing
good tidings. Beautiful feet bringing good
tidings. Look it with me at verse 7. How
beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that brings
good tidings, that publishes peace, that brings good tidings
of good, that publishes salvation, that says unto Zion, Thy God
reigneth. Thy watchmen shall lift up the
voice, with the voice together shall they sing, for they shall
see eye to eye when the Lord shall bring again Zion." Turn
to Nahum chapter 1. Right before Habakkuk. Right after Micah. Nahum chapter
1. And look at verse 15. This is prophetic. Speaking about the Lord Jesus
Christ. Behold upon the mountains the
feet of him that brings good tidings, that publishes peace."
Now, we could apply such a verse as this, this verse 7, to those
who speak for Christ in the gospel message. And we could apply this
very correctly, that would be a correct application of this
passage, and we could also correctly apply this to John the Baptist,
who prepared the way, spoke the message, brought good tidings
of good things, as he prepared the way of the Lamb, prepared
the way of the Lord, the Lord Jesus Christ. These would be
two correct applications of this passage. And we also see in verse
8, thy watchman, that is a word used to gospel preachers as they
speak and warn the people of God, His grace, salvation, and
things to come. However, let's look higher. Let's go higher and more heavenward
and apply this passage, this verse, to the Master, the author
of all good tidings, Christ Jesus, our Kinsman Redeemer. That's
what we're going to look at in this verse. We're going to apply
it to Him. And I see four wonderful thoughts. In this verse, as they apply
to the Lord Jesus Christ, the one with beautiful feet upon
the mountains, bringing good tidings. So we're going to look
at four wonderful thoughts. Good tidings. Publishing peace. Publishing
salvation. And thy God reigneth. We're going
to look at those four things in this text. The Lord Jesus
Christ who brings good tidings. How beautiful upon the mountains
are the feet of Him. Him. Yes, gospel preachers. Yes, John the Baptist. But, more
specifically, the God-man. Emmanuel. God with us. The Lord
Jesus Christ. Blessed forever. Him that brings
good tidings. Good tidings. Matthew chapter
1 and verse 21 tells us that his name shall be called Jesus
for he shall not maybe not try not if you let him he shall save
his people from their sins now I would say for sinners like
you and I here this morning that is most certainly a good tiding. That is, most certainly a good
tiding. His name shall be called Jesus, Redeemer, Savior, Deliverer,
for He shall positively, absolutely save His people from their sins. Salvation comes in the form of
the God-man. How beautiful upon the mountains
are the feet of Him that brings good tidings. He Himself is good
tidings, and the message that he had was good tidings. Because
salvation to sinners came in the form of a person, the God-man,
from God, it came from God, that is, one who honored his law,
satisfied his justice in the form of a man, as man, to be
tempted in all points like we, yet without sin. We get tempted,
and we fall, and we sin, and we sin, and we sin. We needed
someone like us, bone of our bone, flesh of our flesh, to
bring and to be Himself. Good titans. Tempted in all points,
like us, yet without sin. One who is touched with the feeling
of our infirmities, yet no sin. could be found in him. Called,
as in other places, the spotless Lamb of God. No blemish, no corruption
found in him. That's good tidings. That's very
good tidings. Secondly, the Lord Jesus Christ,
how beautiful. Upon the mountains are the feet
of him that publishes peace. Peace to be had through his one
voluntary and perfect sacrifice for the sins of all his elect
people throughout all time. Peace between the offended Jehovah
God and the rebellious sinner. Peace by blood, reconciliation
by death, and redemption by substitution. Now I would say that's publishing
peace. And I should have looked this word up. I looked up a few
words in the Greek and Hebrew, but now that I'm here, I wish
I would have looked up publish. Publishes. Publishes. Not only is he the publisher,
but he's the author of peace. That is, salvation that can be
had between God and men originates by Him and Him alone. He thought up before the foundation
of the world and that covenant agreement with the Father, the
Son, and the Holy Spirit. It was predetermined, it was
proposed, it was predestined how He could be just and justify
the ungodly. Through the sacrifice of himself,
making peace. So making peace. So giving reconciliation. Owning redemption for his people. Publish peace. It's one thing
to go down to the town hall and look at a board And somebody
published something, a declaration, an announcement. And it's quite another to actually
have it. There's going to be this and
this is going to take place. This is a publication. They're
saying this is what they're going to do. But then oftentimes we
don't have the power, the authority, the ability, the money or whatever
to see it through. I can't imagine what it would
have been like. When they said in World War Two, when they published
those papers, when they came off the press, the war is over. Peace. Peace. Thirdly, it says about our Lord
Jesus Christ, him that brings not only good tidings, not only
publishes peace, but that publishes salvation. publishes salvation
not maybe if you cooperate with God not maybe if you make some
false and worthless decision for a baby in a manger but salvation
absolutely because of pure and free grace found in the scapegoat
Christ Jesus secured procured gave Absolute salvation because he
who was innocent and just became guilty for the likes of us who
were guilty and vile and corrupt all day long. Picture that Old
Testament where the priest laid his hands on that scapegoat showing
the transfer of sin from the people to that goat and they
let that goat free. This is called the scapegoat. It went free. He went free. We're free in Him. Salvation. Publishes salvation. Absolute. He was slain so we
might go free. We were held captive by sin are
now delivered and rescued by that just one, that holy one
and merciful one. I didn't look up this word salvation
in this text And it has to do with salvation as in deliverance. I like this one. To be free. And to have victory. That's what this word means in
this passage. Publishes salvation. It's his
for to give salvation unto his people. To deliver. To make us
free. and guarantee a victory. Now,
go back up and look at this. How beautiful then is He not
to everyone who has experienced this salvation. This word salvation is the same
word that is found in Psalms. Turn with me to Psalm 62. Psalm
62. This word salvation is the same
word that David uses in verses 1 and verses 2. In Psalm 62, truly my soul waits
upon God, from him comes my salvation. Same word. Verse 2, he only is
my rock and my salvation. He is my defense. I shall not
be greatly moved. He only. He's the only one that
truly has good tidings experientially in us. I can speak. God's preachers speak these good
tidings. We proclaim salvation, but it's
only in Christ. It's only through Christ. It's
only because of Christ. I can't give salvation. I can
speak good tidings, but it's truly good tidings when it's
received by faith in the heart. And you don't know what I'm talking
about unless or until you've experienced the soul being held
hard in sin's prison and being captured by iniquity. You don't
understand the beauty of who we're speaking of here. You don't
understand the beauty of the good tidings, peace, or salvation
unless you know by experience the prison that sin holds us
within. It took Melinda and I quite a
while to find this little fact out, but I wanted to get it right. But Joseph Hart, a British hymn
writer, years ago in the 1700s, he got it right when he said,
A sinner is a sacred thing. The Holy Ghost has made him so. A sinner is a sacred thing. Because
the Holy Ghost has made him so. Because there's people that they're
in churches this morning and they might even be at the same
text. But until the God, the Holy Spirit shows us what we
are by nature and birth and practice, we will not understand Him who
brings good tidings, who publishes peace, that brings good tidings
of good that publishes salvation and lastly in this text that
says unto Zion thy God reigns that's his sovereignty that's
his sovereign that's the fact that he is who he is Christ said
by doing thy God reigneth God reigns in purpose,
He reigns in His decree, He reigns in His power, and He reigns by
His eternal presence. Turn to Revelation chapter 19.
Revelation chapter 19. Revelation 19 and verse 6. The writer says, And I heard,
as it were, the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of
many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying,
Alleluia, for the Lord God Omnipotent reigneth. That's the message
of this book. Good tidings from our beautiful
Redeemer. All of Grace is all in his hands. He and he alone has the keys
of peace. He and he alone has the keys
of salvation. Why? Because he rules and reigns. He alone. Not one day or in the
near future, but the word is in our text Look at it in our
text, verse 7. Thy God reigns. Right now. Present tense. Right now, He always has reigned
and He always will reign. There is nothing, whether in
salvation election, redemption, or justification that our majestic
God does not rule and reign in and over all. There's not a Bible doctrine,
there's not a thought in this book that suggests otherwise. He reigns. And that's why verse
8 is so true and God's preachers, the preachers who preach this
gospel, this holy gospel by Watchman, shall lift up the voice. God's
preachers know these truths to be evident from this book and
therefore, one, lift up the voice. We tell it loud and clear. There's
no need in sneaking up behind somebody and playing games or
gimmicks to try to get people in and then sneak up on them
with the gospel. No. That's not the way any man,
any of God's preachers preach. They stood up and they proclaimed
loudly, Thy watchmen shall lift up the voice. They lifted up. They just, they preach it. We
speak the truth, as Paul says, in love. We don't have to be
mean. We don't beat people over the head about it. But we don't
back down. This is the truth. Linda and
I were talking about this the other day. That's one reason
why one charge about God's preachers that preach this gospel, this
holy gospel, is that we're often said, oh, well, they're cocky
and they're haughty and everything. Well, I think part of it is I'm
sure that we're sinful. I know we are. And we might come
across that way, but I think mainly it's because we come across,
preach this book in authority, with authority. Christ spoke
the word with authority and was despised. John the Baptist spoke
the word with authority. And all the disciples, all of
the men throughout history stand up and say, it's not this way.
It's only this way. And people in a world that's
flip flops back and forth, no backbone. And no absolutes, they
can't take it. Well you're saying that this
is the only way God saves, that's exactly right. No other way,
no other person, by no other means. And that's too absolute. But the gospel is not maybes,
couldbes, wouldas, shouldas. The gospel is He shall and therefore
we will. like we've seen in the last couple
weeks. Secondly, God's preachers, they sing it to all who have
ears to hear. Look at verse 8 again. Thy watchmen
shall lift up the voice, with the voice together shall they
sing. We will sing it, speak it to
all who have ears to hear. And lastly, thirdly, they shall
see eye to eye when the Lord shall bring again Zion. We see
eye to eye with all other free grace gospel preachers, nobody
else. You sit there and you talk with
somebody, it doesn't matter what they call their name, if they
don't speak according to the truth of this book, I don't see
eye to eye with them, and I can't, and I won't. But I'm so thankful
that there's men, there's quite a few men in this country that
you know and that I know. And I can say with this passage
here, I see eye to eye with them about the things in this book,
how God saves sinners and can still be just and yet justify
the ungodly. I see eye to eye. There's unity
in the truth and God will honor his truth. I ask you, I ask myself
this morning, do we believe the truth as it's revealed in this
book? How beautiful upon the mountains
are the feet of him that brings good tidings, that publishes
peace, that brings good tidings of good, that publishes salvation,
that says unto Zion, Thy God reigneth. Thy watchman shall
lift up the voice, with the voice together shall they sing, for
they shall see eye to eye, when the Lord shall bring again Zion. There's no arguing how God saves
sinners and when we see what God does for his people in his
church as he redeems his elect throughout the four corners of
this world we rejoice together the fact that he rules and reigns
and his purpose is being accomplished and those who do not agree with
such things we don't see eye to eye and nor will we but I'm
so thankful that we do, and it's only because He has seen fit
to give us good tidings. He is beautiful, even the feet,
even His feet. Bottom of the feet, the top of
the head. To the believer, Christ is altogether
lovely and altogether beautiful. Matt, would you close us please? Bye.