Isaiah 52, read verse 7 with me. How beautiful upon the mountains
are the feet of him, of him that bringeth good tidings. Now, this
can refer to the prince of preachers, the Lord Jesus Christ. For he
certainly came among sinners preaching the gospel of the kingdom
of God. But it also has references we
just read a moment ago in Romans chapter 10 that Paul cites this
portion of scripture under inspiration of Holy Spirit and makes application
to the gospel preacher. How shall they believe in whom
they've not heard? How shall they call upon Him
whom they've not heard and believe the gospel of God's grace? How
beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of Him that bringeth
good tidings, that publish peace, that bringeth good tidings of
good. good tidings of good, that publish
salvation, that saith unto Zion, this is God's gospel church,
God's gospel Zion, thy God, God who is God Almighty, thy God
he reigns, he reigns supreme, he reigns as a sovereign, sovereign
king of the universe, so I'm entitling this sermon for us
this evening on this, what I feel is a special occasion. First
time the gospel has ever been sounded in this building. And the walls of this building
are going to hear some strange things. And I pray the Lord will
bless us together. So, I'm entitling this sermon,
The Gospel Preacher's Message. What is The Gospel Preacher's
Message? From the words found in verse
7, and that will serve as our text and also serve as our outline. Now, what then is our message?
What then is our message? Well, let me begin with a negative.
First of all, let me tell you what it's not. You know the Apostle
Paul often does this. He says in Titus chapter 3, it's
not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according
to his mercy. So first of all, he tells us
what salvation is not. Let me tell you what the gospel
preacher's message is not. Then I'll tell you what it is.
What then is our message? Well, it's not, it's not that
God loves everybody without exception. That's not our message. God is
love. The love of God is in Christ
Jesus. It's not that Christ died to make an attempt to save everybody
or to make salvation a possibility. If the Lord Jesus Christ died
for all of the sins of all men, and yet some men perish in hell,
then his death and his sacrifice has nothing to do with salvation.
If God loves everybody without exception, and some for whom
he loved perish in eternal condemnation, then his love has nothing to
do with salvation. It must depend upon something
else. What is our message? Well, it's
not that God loves everybody. It's not that Christ died to
make salvation a possibility. That's what we hear everywhere
else, isn't it? It's not that God is trying and giving His
best effort to save everybody. That's not so. That's not so
at all. God doesn't try to do anything.
Used to be years ago, when I worked around a lot of industrial plants,
a lot of people would walk around with their hard hat on, and they'd
have a little sticker on the front of their hard hat that
would say, Try Jesus. You know, just try Him on, see
if He fits. God doesn't try to do anything. Our message is not God is trying
to save you, won't you let Him have His way. That's not our
message. God doesn't try to do anything. God Almighty accomplishes
His eternal purpose and it shall be done. Those who preach those
three things that I just mentioned, God loves everybody. Christ died
for everybody. God's trying to do His dead-level
best to save everybody. Those who preach those things,
now let me be clear. I choose my words deliberately.
Let me be clear. Those who preach those things
and promote those things are false prophets. Now let's just
be clear. their false prophets. And those
who believe their lies and those who embrace those lies are yet
in their sin. They have not heard the true
gospel of God's grace. God does not use Now think with
me. God does not use the lies of
men or half-truths of false preachers to teach men the gospel truth. Now think about it. Does God
use a lie to teach the truth? That doesn't even make sense.
It's like saying the way up is down. It's like saying 2 plus
2 is 5. Now you take that test tomorrow
and you flunk math. 2 plus 2 is 4 last time I checked. So God does not use the lives
of men to teach truth. God uses truth, absolute truth,
to teach truth. That's what this ministry is
about. That's what this ministry is about. That's why God has
established this gospel witness here in this city, to declare
the truth. Not half-truths, but to declare
the truth. Now in the courts of men, you
get a summons to appear in court, and you're brought before the
bailiff and he tells you to raise your hand and put your hand on
the Bible and raise your right hand and you swear an oath to
tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth. What?
So help you God. Now what happens if you get on
that witness stand and you purposely lie? What will happen? And you're
caught in that lie. You know what they call that?
Perjury. carries a serious, serious charge. Perjury, perjury. In
the courts of men, it's a serious thing to lie before the judge. But my friend, how much greater
to stand before the judge of all the earth and to lie on God,
to blaspheme His name. In the courts of men, they call
those who lie and they're charged with perjury. But in the court
of God's holiness, in the court of God's justice, those who refuse
to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth,
God charges them with treason, which is a crime punishable by
death. You commit treason against this
country and you'll hang for it. Rightly so. How much sore the
penalty to commit treason against God Almighty, to blaspheme His
name, and to tell lies in the name of Christ, expecting men
to be saved. Can you be saved listening to
lies? Can you be converted under a
false gospel? Absolutely not. The Apostle Paul,
writing to those believers at Rome, and encouraging, there
in the 10th chapter, encouraging sinners to call upon the name
of the Lord, quotes from this passage here in Isaiah chapter
7. Or rather, verse 7, chapter 52,
quotes in this passage and applies it to gospel preachers in our
day. And it says, how beautiful are
the feet of those who go and preach the gospel of peace, the
gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, we place great importance,
great importance, upon the preaching of the gospel. We insist upon
it. As our brother just read a moment ago, we preach not ourselves,
We preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves
your servant for Christ's sake. For we have this treasure in
our earthen vessel, that the excellency and the power may
be of God, and not of us. We glory not in the messenger.
I'm just a messenger. My feet have brought me here
this evening. With my feet I've walked through that door. But
we glory not in the messenger, we glory in the message. Don't
we? Christ and Him crucified. The
Apostle Paul said, I'm determined to know nothing among you but
Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Our Lord, before He ascended
to glory, gave these instructions to the early church in that day.
Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. Preach the gospel. The gospel
of the Lord Jesus Christ. When the Apostle Paul was in
prison in Rome, waiting to be executed for the gospel of God's
grace and glory in Christ Jesus, he writes to young Timothy and
says this. Remember what he says? He says,
I charge you before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall
judge the living and the dead to preach the word, be it in
season, out of season. When is it seasonable to preach
the gospel? All the time. Every time God
gives opportunity to preach the gospel, we're to preach the gospel
of God, concerning the Lord Jesus Christ. Now in Romans 10, as
we read a moment ago, the Apostle Paul asked five important questions,
recorded there in Romans 10 for our learning. He says, you cannot
call and believe upon someone that you have not heard of, That
is why God has ordained the preaching of the true gospel of Christ
to the salvation of His people. You must hear by the power of
God. Our Lord said, Blessed are your
ears for they really hear, your eyes for they see. You must hear
and believe the true gospel in order to know and believe the
truth. It is necessary, therefore, to hear the word of truth in
order to be saved, really, truly, begotten of God. If His own will
beget He us with the word of truth, with the word of life.
Our Lord said, you shall know the truth. And the truth sets
sinners free. Lies don't set sinners free. It's the truth. The truth of
God. The truth of who He is. The truth of who Christ is. The
truth of salvation accomplished by God's grace. The truth of
who we are. The truth of God's saving mercy
in Christ Jesus. It's a truth that sets centers
free. So then, what is our message?
What are we to preach? I want to use the words found
in Isaiah 52-7 as an outline of what gospel preachers are
to preach. Now, this whole book, this whole
book we call the Bible, it tells us what to preach. We must find
our message from God's Word. You see, preaching is just simply
repeating what God has already said. That's all we do. It's
really nothing complicated. We make it complicated. It's
just repeating what God has already given to us to say. Well, the
first thing we learn is this. How beautiful, how necessary
upon the mountains or the feet of them that bring good tidings
of good. The first thing we learn is the
importance of a gospel minister, the importance of a gospel messenger. God says that their feet are
blessed as they carry the gospel. They're sinners with a message
to other sinners about the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. And
they're determined, as the Apostle Paul, not to know anything among
you but Jesus Christ and Him crucified, declaring unto you
the testimony of God. Preaching the gospel is one beggar
telling another beggar where he found bread. Again, we read
a moment ago about that treasure in an earthen vessel, that the
excellency may be of God, the power may be of God, not of us.
Not of us. One of the greatest blessings,
one of the greatest blessings God gives unto his church unto
his people is a faithful gospel preacher. It says that, remember
our study from Ephesians chapter 4, when he ascended up on high,
he gave gifts unto men. You remember those gifts? He
gave apostles, evangelists, prophets, pastors, and teachers. These
are the gifts of God unto His blessed church. So one of the
greatest things any community can have is a gospel preacher,
a faithful gospel, God-sent preacher of the gospel, who is not afraid
of the frowns of men, Nor does he preach to please
men, but rather is bold to declare unto all that will hear all the
counsel of God, keeping back nothing that is profitable unto
God's people. Determine the glory in Christ
and Christ alone. These are the men that are sent
of God to carry the message of God. from Isaiah 40 the message the
voice said cry and he said what shall I cry you remember that
threefold message of evangelism all flesh is grass all and the
word of the Lord abides forever and behold you're gone behold
you're God oh what a blessing to have a
God sent faithful preacher I pray the Lord will Raise up a pastor
for you. God's given you this facility
to use this building. And that's great and fine and
I'm thankful. I know you are too. In five years, the Lord's
blessed this group. Bless the commitment to the gospel
of God's grace. And has provided this building
for us to meet in this evening. But I pray, and it's my prayer
for you, and I know your prayer too, that Lord be pleased to
send you a pastor. A faithful gospel preacher. Now he's called down here in
verse 8 in our text, the watchman. The 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. Zion. You know, the pastor is
a watchman. He watches over the flock. He
watches over the flock. He warns. He warns of danger. Remember them old, ancient cities
of old. They were walled around. And
they put watchtowers. And they stationed watchmen out
there. And when the watchmen saw the enemy approaching, he
would alarm the army so they could get ready to defend themselves. And that's what God's preachers
are. They're watchmen. They're watchmen. They warn people,
God's people, of the dangers. There's wolves around. There's
wolves around in sheep clothing, whose motive is to devour the
sheep and to destroy the sheep, destroy the church of the Lord
Jesus Christ. What is a watchman to do? Just
sit back and say, well, you know, I don't want to offend anybody.
No, it says here, the watchman shall lift up his voice. The
watchman on that ancient city, when the enemy came in, well,
if he didn't sound an alarm, what would the general think?
Well, that old boy fell asleep on the job. He wouldn't put up
with that disobedience, would he? The watchman shall lift up
his voice. He's a cry out, cry aloud, and
spare not! I don't mind offending the feelings
of people. I'd much rather offend sinners
than offend God by not telling the truth. So God's watchmen are sent to
warn of the dangers around you, and then they're sent to tell
you to look to the only refuge that God has provided, and that
refuge and that foundation is none other than the Lord Jesus
Christ. Well, here's the second point
is this. Oh, here's their message. That
bringeth good tidings. That bringeth good tidings of
good. They bring good tidings. You
know what good tidings is? Good news. Good news. Now, everybody likes to hear
good news, don't they? You meet your friend on the job
and one of your family members or something or your neighbor
and they come up to you and they say, I've got some good news.
And you're just anxious and, well, what is it? Well, you know,
my daughter's expecting, or, well, I've got a promotion at
work, or, everybody anticipates some kind of good news. Well,
my friend, the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ is good news
to sinners. It is glad tidings to sinners. The gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ is good news to the guilty. The Lord Jesus Christ died for
the ungodly. The Lord Jesus Christ justified
the ungodly. The Lord Jesus Christ says, Look
unto me and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth. Well,
who needs a Savior? Those who are lost. Who needs
a Savior? Those who are sinners. Look unto me and be ye saved,
all the ends of the earth, for I am God and beside me there
is no other. You see, in the Lord Jesus Christ
there is mercy for the miserable. That publican cried out, God
be merciful to me, the sinner. And you know what the Lord said?
That man went down to his house justified. That Pharisee justified
himself and was condemned. The publican condemned himself
and was justified. Justified. Be merciful to me,
the sinner. Have you ever cried that in your
heart before God? God be merciful to me, the sinner. I tell you what, if the Lord
ever shows you who you are, that's good news. That's good news if
God ever shows you you're a wretched, miserable sinner. Because I tell
you, sinners look unto the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace
is for the guilty, mercy is for the miserable, salvation is for
sinners. In Christ Jesus alone. Listen
to these scriptures. This is the faithful saying.
This is worthy of all acceptation that the Lord Jesus Christ came
to save sinners. I don't know about you, but don't
you feel like you're the cheapest sinner? Don't you feel like you're
the vilest sinner on top of God's green earth? The Lord Jesus Christ
didn't come to call the righteous. He came to call sinners. Sinners
unto repentance. The Lord Jesus Christ, the Son
of Man, has come to seek and to save the lost. He's going
to save every lost man. Those whom He makes to know are
lost in Adam and dead and shut out in Adam. God's preachers
declare the good news. The good news. Let me give you
several things here on this second point. We declare the good news
of God Almighty manifest in the flesh. Now, can you think of
any better news? God Almighty, God who inhabits
eternity, inhabited the body of a man. In the fullness of
time, God sent forth his son made of a woman made under the
law to redeem them that were under the law. That is indeed
good news. God incarnate, God in human flesh,
come to seek and to save His children. We declare unto you
the good news that the Lord Jesus Christ, when He came, actually
accomplished our salvation by the sacrifice of Himself. You
see, it's just not that someone died. It's who this man is. that gives value and merit and
power to what He did. God bought us with His own blood. The Lord Jesus Christ actually
accomplished salvation for God's elect by the sacrifice of Himself.
We call that an effectual atonement. We call that particular redemption.
He appeared once in the end of the age to put away sin by the
sacrifice of Himself. We declare unto you the good
news that the Lord Jesus Christ justifies the ungodly totally
by His sovereign grace, sovereign mercy alone. He actually justifies
the ungodly. Justified freely by His grace
through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. We declare unto
you the good news that salvation is accomplished, righteousness
is accomplished, and freely given to the undeserving. God who spared
not his own son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall
he not with him also freely give us, freely give us all things,
all things. We declare unto all that will
hear the good news of the gospel. We declare unto all God's people,
His elect, His salvation is an everlasting gift of His love
and grace in Christ Jesus. Here in His love, not that we
love God, He loved us, sent His Son to be the sacrifice for our
sin. The Lord gives us an everlasting
salvation. whatsoever the Lord doeth, it
shall be," what? Well, temporarily. No. God doesn't
give us a temporary forgiveness. God doesn't give us a temporary
salvation. He saves us with an everlasting
salvation. He says, my sheep hear my voice,
I know them, and I give unto them eternal life. Eternal life. Now, folks want
to argue and debate about it. Eternal security, well, if God
saved you, you're saved with an everlasting salvation, because
that's the only way He does things. Here's the third point. Gospel
preachers declare and publish peace. You see that word there?
They publish peace. Peace, peace, peace. What is
that? That's reconciliation. That's
reconciliation with God in Christ Jesus. You're familiar with the
scripture in 2 Corinthians 5, where it says that God was in
Christ, reconciling us unto himself. Now, did he really get the job
done? You know what reconciliation is, don't you? It's the opposite
of separation. What happened in Adam? Our sin
separated us from God. Well, how can this separation
be reconciled? in the Mediator, the Lord Jesus
Christ. You see, He made peace for us. He reconciled us unto God. Our sin separated us from God. In the Lord Jesus Christ, in
His sacrifice, in His death, He has separated our sin from
us. And therefore we have, you know
what we have? We have really a reconciliation
brought out by Christ. We declare and we publish it. That published there, it means
to publicly proclaim it. We don't go off and say, you
know, God is really sovereign. Don't tell anybody. You know,
God elected the people from all eternity, but you know, Oh, no. Our Lord said, that which I tell
you in ear, you shout it from the house top. We, we dare to
publish these things, and to preach these things, and to proclaim
these things, and as it says, lift up thy voice. The gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ, as we read in Romans 10, is called the gospel, called
the gospel of peace. The gospel of peace. You see,
in Christ Jesus, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus
Christ. Therefore, being justified by
faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
It's peace made how? It's reconciliation made how? How is it made? Now, we oftentimes
hear in in religious circles, in those who do not believe the
gospel of God's grace. We often hear their preachers
say, well, come forward and make peace with God. My friend, you
can't make peace with God. Peace is not made by something
we do. Peace is made by something He
has done. in Christ. For we read this scripture
in Colossians chapter 1, that the Lord Jesus Christ made peace
with His own blood, having put away our sin, He reconciled us
unto God. You see, we declare unto you
the gospel of God's peace. He's a God of all peace, who
brought again from the dead the Lord Jesus Christ, that great
shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the everlasting
covenant. We have peace with God, peace made by the blood
atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ. And you know what that gives
a sinner? Peace of conscience. Peace of
conscience. The blood atonement of Christ
purges our conscience from dead works to serve the living God. My conscience is at peace because
I know that the Lord Jesus Christ satisfied God's law and justice
on my behalf. That gives me peace of conscience. And we declare also Peace with
God. Peace made by the blood of Christ.
Peace of conscience being purred by the blood atonement of Christ.
And we preach peace among believers. God's people are at peace among
themselves. He said, By this shall all men
know that you're my disciples, that you, what? That you argue
and wrangle and know that you love one another. Love one another. We are to love one another and
to forgive one another even as God for Christ's sake has forgiven
us. Now make sure you understand this. There is no peace with
God apart from the Lord Jesus Christ. Is there? Turn to Isaiah
57. You cannot make peace with God
by your puny efforts at self-righteousness, can you? He says, all your righteousnesses
are as filthy rags. You cannot make peace by your
puny efforts because you cannot satisfy what God demands. Look
what it says here in Isaiah 57, verse 19. I create, I create. the fruit of the lips. Peace,
peace to him that is far off, and to him that is near, saith
the Lord, I will heal him. You remember what the Lord says
in the gospel? He healed all them that had need
of healing. But the wicked are like a troubled
sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt.
There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked. Those who refuse
to bow to Christ, there's no peace apart from the Lord Jesus. Turn over here to Isaiah 32,
verse 17. Isaiah 32, 17. The work of righteousness
shall be peace. You see that? The work of righteousness
shall be peace. And the effect of righteousness
is quietness and assurance forever. That's the piece that Paul talks
about that passes understanding in Philippians chapter 4 verse
7. Our Lord said in John chapter
14, no man can come unto me Or rather, he said that in John
chapter 6, no man can come unto me except the Father which sent
me draw him. And the Lord said this in Matthew,
or rather John 14, I am the way, the truth, the life. No man comes
unto the Father but by and through me. He made peace for us with
his own blood. No approach unto God apart from
the Lord Jesus Christ. So we bring the message of good
tidings, of good things. We publish peace with God through
the Lord Jesus Christ. And look what else it says in
the text. Here's the fourth thing. That published salvation. That
published salvation. Now look down at verse 10, the
last part of verse 10. All the ends of the earth shall
see the salvation of our God. What does that say? What is the
salvation that we publish? Salvation of the Lord. Salvation
is of the Lord. God's preachers published salvation
in and through the Lord Jesus Christ. We declare that salvation
is all of His doing. Out there in this religious world,
you know what they preach? Sinner, do. Do, do, do. Our message is totally different.
Our message is not do. Our message is done. The Lord Jesus Christ finished
salvation for us. The Lord Jesus Christ accomplished
salvation for us. Our message is not what we must
do. Our message is what He has done
for us, has accomplished for us. Neither is there salvation
in any other than the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ
indeed is a Savior that really saves. He's a Savior who really
saves. He's a Redeemer that really redeems. You know, He is what He's called.
Call His name what? Jesus. He shall save. He is what
He's called. He is the Savior that doesn't
attempt, doesn't try. He saves His people by His grace. He is the Redeemer that really
redeems. He obtained for us eternal redemption with His own blood.
Salvation. Now listen to me. Salvation is
always by the free and sovereign grace of God through the blood
and righteousness of Christ. Determined by Him. Who determines
salvation? He does. He planned it. He executed
it. He applies it. Salvation is determined
by Him. Salvation is certainly accomplished
by Him. Salvation is dependent upon Him,
the Lord Jesus Christ. And salvation is applied by Him.
Being confident of this very thing, that God who has begun
a good work in you, He will what? Finish it. He'll perform it.
He'll finish it. He'll get it done. God doesn't
start a work and leave it half undone. God begins that work
of grace in your heart. He'll bring it to pass. He'll
finish the work. He'll perform it. He'll do it.
He'll perfect it in a day of His power. Now here's the last
thing. He saves the best for last. that
saith unto Zion, now Zion here is God's gospel church, that
saith unto God's people, thy God reigns. He reigneth. He reigneth. He
reigns supreme. God's preachers, those sent of
God, those taught of God, declare unto Zion, that God is God, that
God reigns over all, that God is absolute sovereign in heaven
and in earth. He taught a pagan king that one
time, old Nebuchadnezzar. And he, God Almighty taught him
that God does according to His will in the army of heaven and
among the habitants of this earth and none can stay in His hand
or none can say in Him, Lord God Almighty, what doest thou? Now listen to this. The gospel
of Christ, the Lord Jesus Christ, cannot be good news unless God
reigns supreme in all things to execute His purpose and grace.
It can't be good news unless He
reigns to execute His will in all things. And that's what it
says. In Ephesians chapter 1, He worketh
all things at the counsel of His own will. That which He has
purposed, He will bring it to pass. He will do it. You know,
that's right here in Isaiah, real close. Turn back to Isaiah
46. Verse 9, he said, Remember the former things of old, I am
God, there is none else, Isaiah 46, 9. There is none like me,
declaring the end from the beginning, from ancient times to things
that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, I'll
do all my pleasure, calling a ravenous bird from the east, a man that
executes my counsel from a far country. He said, I've spoken
it. I'll bring it to pass. I will also bring it to pass.
I purposed it. I will also do it." Now, does
that sound like His will is frustrated? Does that sound like His decrees
will not come to pass? Oh, no. Oh, no. He said, I purposed
it. I will do it. I will do it. I'll get it done. Now, this is
plainly declared all through Isaiah, repeatedly it says, in
Isaiah, I am the Lord, beside me there is none other. I am
the Lord, beside me there is no savior. Look unto me, now
and be ye saved. Our God reigns supreme, totally,
totally the absolute Lord of heaven and earth. And we always
mention when we talk about the sovereignty of God in salvation,
or the sovereignty of God as He reigns and rules and as He
sits upon the sovereign throne of the universe, we always talk
about God reigns in creation, God reigns in providence, and
God reigns supreme and absolutely in salvation. Now let's talk
about those three things. Our God reigns in creation, doesn't
He? All creation was designed by Him in exact detail. All things were made by Him and
for Him, it says in Colossians 1, and by Him all things consist,
you remember? All things are held together
by Him. I read this scripture this morning
to our folks at Zebulun. We're going through the Revelation.
In Revelation chapter 4 verse 11, talks about the Lord in His
reign, in His creative, sovereign purpose. And it says, For thy
pleasure they are and were created. Creates all things for His purpose
and pleasure by His wise and sovereign will and design. God reigns supreme in creation. That's so, isn't it? God reigns
also supreme in providence. Known unto God are all His works
from the beginning. What is God's providence? The
things that unfold in time, God has decreed from eternity. It says in Romans 11.36, one
of my favorite scriptures, Of Him and through Him and to Him
are all things. Did you get that? Of Him, through
Him, that covers all the basis. That's a grand slam. Of Him and
through Him and to Him are all things to whom be glory, both
now and forever. And then it says, so be it. Amen. God reigns supreme in creation.
God reigns supreme in providence. Thirdly, God reigns supremely
and absolutely in salvation. And what do we mean when we say,
you know, the name of this ministry, Kingsport Sovereign Grace Church. Now what does that mean? Sovereign
Grace? It means that God reigns in salvation. He will be gracious to whom He
will be gracious. For we read in Romans 9, it's
not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but it's
God that will show mercy. In John chapter 1, We're born
again, not of the will of the flesh, not of the will of man,
but we're born again the sovereign purpose of God. Our Lord prayed
in John 17, Father, you've given me power over all flesh, that
I should give eternal life to as many as the Father hath given
me. You see, the Lord will be merciful
to whom he will. Not of him that willeth, or of
him that runneth, but it's God that will show mercy on whom
he will. That's sovereign in salvation. He's sovereign in all things,
especially in salvation. Now let me send you home with
one more thought. In verses 8 and 9, the watchman
shall lift up the voice, the preacher is to lift up his voice,
and with the voice together shall they sing. We're in harmony on
these things. God's preacher and God's people,
they love these things. Peace, good tiding, good news,
salvation, God's reign. Lift up your voice. Sing together
with joy. And you know what it says there? They shall see eye to eye. They
shall see eye to eye. When the Lord shall bring again.
Zion. Break forth into joy. Sing together. The Lord hath redeemed his people. Made bare his arm. Has shown
his salvation. All believers see eye to eye
on these vital and critical issues of the gospel. Titus 1.1 says
the faith of God delect. The faith of God delect does
what? Acknowledges the truth. Not only
acknowledges the truth, but believes the truth and loves the truth
of God's saving grace. And you know what else they do?
Look at verse 11. Isaiah 52 verse 11, and they
depart ye, depart ye, go out from thence, touch not the unclean
thing. I tell you, when God teaches
you the truth, you'll quickly let go of that which is false. And you'll depart from those
who refuse to tell the truth of who God is, who Christ is,
and the way of salvation in Christ Jesus. Believers sing together,
and their song is this, as we read in the Revelation. chapter
1 verse 5 unto him who loved us and washed us from our sin
in his own blood to him be all the honor and glory both now
and forever and as the Apostle says in Philippians 3 about the
true Israel of God they are they who worship God in the spirit
rejoice in Christ Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh that
which is born of the flesh what it is, flesh, that which is born
of the spirit is spirit. We worship God in spirit and
in truth.