For Zion's Sake - The Work and the Glory of Zion

[00:00:00] Prophecies of Isaiah and chapter 60. [00:00:06] For those of you who've been following these special times, you know that we've been sort of looking at some of these prophecies around this. Chapter 61. Chapter 62. Chapter 58. And of course 59 is a continuation of what the Lord was saying in 58. And now I would like to read the this wonderful 60th chapter. [00:00:30] Arise, shine, for thy light is come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the peoples. But the Lord will arise upon thee and his glory shall be seen upon thee. [00:00:49] And nations shall come to thy light and kings to the brightness of thy rising. Lift up thine eyes round about and see. They all gather themselves together. They come to thee. Thy sons shall come from far and thy daughters shall be carried in the arms. Then thou shalt see and be radiant and thy heart shall thrill and be enlarged because the abundance of the shall be turned unto thee. The wealth of the nations shall come unto thee. The multitude of camels shall cover thee. The dromedaries of Midian and Ephah, all they from Sheba shall come. They shall bring gold and frankincense and shall proclaim the praises of the Lord. All the flocks of Kedar shall be gathered together unto thee. The realms of of nabeot shall minister unto thee. They shall come up with acceptance on mine altar. And I will glorify the house of my glory. Who are these that fly as a cloud and as doves to their windows? Surely the isles shall wait for me and the ships of tarshish first to bring thy sons from far, their silver and their gold with them. For the name of the Lord thy God and for the holy one of Israel, because he hath glorified thee. And foreigners shall build up thy walls and their king shall minister unto thee. For in my wrath I smote thee. But in my favour have I had mercy on thee. Thy gates also shall be opened continually. They shall not be shut day nor night that men may bring unto thee the wealth of the nations and their kings led captive for that nation and kingdom that will not serve thee shall perish. Yea, those nations shall be utterly wasted. The glory of Lebanon shall come unto thee. The fir tree, the pine and the box tree together to beautify the place of my sanctuary. And I will make the place of my feet glorious. And the sons of them that afflicted thee shall come bending unto thee. And all they that despise thee shall bow themselves down at the soles of thy feet. And they shall call thee the city of the Lord, the zion of the holy one of Israel. Whereas thou hast been forsaken and hated, so that no man passed through thee, I will make thee an eternal excellency, a joy of many generations. Thou shalt also suck the milk of the nations and shalt suck the breast of kings. And thou shalt know that I, the Lord, am thy saviour and thy redeemer, the mighty one of Jacob. For brass I will bring gold, and for iron I will bring silver. And for wood, brass, and for stones, iron, I will also make thy officers peace, and thine exactors righteousness. Violence shall no more be heard in thy land. Desolation nor destruction within thy borders, but thou shalt call thy walls salvation and thy gates praise. [00:04:18] The sun shall be no more thy light by day, neither for brightness shall the moon give light unto thee, but the Lord will be unto thee an everlasting light, and thy God thy glory, thy sun shall no more go down, neither shall thy moon withdraw itself, for the Lord will be thine everlasting light, and the days of thy mourning shall be ended. Thy people also shall be all righteous. They shall inherit the land forever. The branch of my planting, the work of my hands, that I may be glorified. The little one shall become a thousand, and the small one a strong nation. I, the Lord, will hasten it in its time. [00:05:07] It would be far too late to go back now over what we have been considering in these times since last Thursday evening. But as you've already heard, we've been really thinking about this word, this name, this title, Zion, and seeking to understand by the spirit what the Bible really means by the use of this name, because it is not just found in one or two places in the Bible, but it is one of the most common names found in the scriptures, and it runs right the way through even the New Testament. We're told, for instance, by the writer of the hebrew letter, that ye have come, that is, those who've been born of God, who've been saved by the grace of God. Ye are come unto Mount Zion, unto the city of the living God, unto the heavenly Jerusalem, and so on. And we've been looking at this matter, and last night we were considering the 62nd chapter of Isaiah, and we ended with those words that. That command, that challenge of the Lord to those who would enter into the fellowship of his travail. [00:06:23] His travail for Zion. He says, for Zion's sake I will not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem's sake, I will not rest until her righteousness go forth as brightness and her salvation as a lamp that burneth. And then we consider something of that fellowship in his travel, of his travel into which he would bring us, if we really will commit ourselves and the challenge. Go through the gates. Go through. Prepare ye the way of the people. Cast up. Cast up the highway. Gather out the stones. Lift up an ensign for the peoples. And this morning we were thinking of some of those ways in which we can prepare the way of the people in which we are casting up a highway. [00:07:13] The people gathering out the stones, lifting up the ensign, as it were, running the flag up the mast so that everybody can see under whose standard we stand and serve and whose territory it is we are found within. Well, now we consider two things. In Isaiah, chapter 58 this morning, we spoke of the oppression and bondage. I really think I shall have to have that door shut. [00:07:49] I hope and trust that the Holy Spirit will himself somehow lower the temperature of this room well within his power. [00:07:58] But with airplanes, it's just like speaking in an open air meeting, and it's difficult. [00:08:06] Now, where was I? [00:08:09] Isaiah 58. That's right. I was just saying, really, there are two matters here that we spoke about and thought about, considered this morning. The first was this whole matter of oppression. Now, this is not just a sideline, this whole matter of bondage, this whole matter of oppression. We've got it in verse six. Is not my chosen fast that you loose the bonds of wickedness, undo the bands of the yoke, let the oppressed go free and break every yoke. Now, this is not just a deliverance ministry. It's not some particular, specific kind of ministry for those who are rather unusual now and again, we find people who are bound, we find people who are oppressed, and we have a specific ministry in the body of the Lord Jesus for such ones. But it's not just that this is dealing with the heart of the matter as far as this world goes. The Lord Jesus spoke of Satan as the prince of this world. [00:09:20] In another place. The apostle Paul in Ephesians and chapter two spoke of the spirit that now worketh or energizes the sons of disobedience. [00:09:36] And he called him the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now energizes the sons of disobedience. In another place, the Lord Jesus said, speaking of very decent people, ye are all of your father the devil. [00:09:54] He was a liar from the beginning. [00:09:58] In other words, fallen mankind has got the poison in the bloodstream, and somehow we've been fathered by Satan. And we have something of his nature in us. Now that explains human history, doesn't it? 6000 years of bloodshed, of strife, of disunity, of corruption, and yet a widespread desire for prosperity, for peace, for unity, for equality, for justice. And yet, somehow or other, each new ideology, each new philosophy, each new political system that is raised up and promises us a golden age, a golden millennia. It ends in a bigger dungeon than ever. [00:10:50] The ideal may be freedom, equality, justice. But how does it work out? Unless it is the gospel that comes and liberates men and women. Then justice becomes injustice, equality becomes inequality, freedom becomes a dungeon, and men's joy becomes misery. Now, this is human history. And therefore the Holy Spirit takes up this matter and says, the ministry of Zion, the work of Zion is to proclaim liberty for the captives. In other words, no man or woman can come to know the Lord Jesus Christ unless God breaks the power of Satan in that person's life. Now, the person may be a very decent person, a very moral person, a very upright person, but they can be blinded by their own self righteousness. So they don't see their need to be born of God. So they don't see their need to be saved by the grace of God. And you know that bondage can be as terrible as a bondage to immorality, or a bondage to alcohol, or a bondage to drugs, or a bondage to some other unclean thing or destructive thing. Now, only the Lord can break. And he is the one who was anointed by God. That's what his title means. Messiah or Christ, the anointed one, anointed by God to proclaim liberty to those who are captives, the opening of the prison to them that abound. [00:12:23] It is a breaking of every form of captivity so that men and women can come to know him. Isn't it wonderful that there are many here in this room tonight who have been delivered from the power of darkness and transferred into the kingdom of his dear son? That is exactly what the apostle Paul says in Colossians chapter one and verse 13. [00:12:50] It doesn't matter how decent you were, how religious your background, there came a point when God issued the word and you were delivered from the power of darkness and transferred out of one domain into another, out of one authority into another, out of the powers of darkness into the kingdom of God's dear son. Wonderful. [00:13:10] Now, I think that this whole matter of loosing bonds of wickedness, undoing the bands of the yoke, letting the oppressed go free, breaking every yoke, is absolutely essential. If Zion is to be restored, if Zion is to be completed, if the kingdom of God is to come in power, then we have to tackle this subject because it's the heart of the matter. And he speaks in general terms about this. In this verse six and then verse seven, we spoke of the. The need, the necessity, the vital necessity of love and compassion in all our relationships. You see, here we have these wonderful words. Deal thy bread to the hungry, bring the poor that is cast out into thy house when thou seest the naked, cover him and hide not thyself from thine own flesh. [00:14:06] In other words, it's no good just getting a vision which is metallic and mechanical. It's no good just having your head filled with doctrine. Unless the Holy Spirit sheds abroad in our hearts the love of God and the compassion of God and the mercy of God, there is no hope. [00:14:27] It says in one corinthians, chapter 13, that chapter right in the midst of a whole passage about the body of Christ, about the Lord's table, about our gathering together unto him about the body of the Lord and how it functions, all its gifts and so on. And then he goes on about the operation of gifts in chapter 14, right in the middle of it comes this marvelous chapter on love. And he says, I will show thee the most excellent way. [00:15:01] And then he says, you can preach, but if you have not love, it's nothing. You can give your body to be burned, but if you have not love, it means nothing. Now, if a person gives their body to be burned, you would have thought they'd have done that out of love. [00:15:13] But no, evidently you can be martyred for a principle, and the Lord says, that's no good. The difference between the gospel and communist martyrs or other martyrs is that they die for a principle. We die out of love for the Lord and for a world that is lost. [00:15:40] God preserve us from just being slaves to doctrine. I'm not running down doctrine. It's absolutely essential, sound doctrine. Truth is of as great importance tonight as it has ever been in the history of the church. But you know, dear friends, whatever we may say, the fact comes in the end back to this, that you can have truth, and it can be hard, mechanical and cold. [00:16:07] We can know all the purpose of God and know what he wants and talk endlessly about the church and being built together. And all of us even talk about intercession for the nation. And there are people in our midst who are in desperate need, and we don't share our bread with them, people who are destitute lonely that we don't bring into our homes. [00:16:31] The thing has to come right down. We can't be watchmen on the walls of Zion. We can't be committed to what the Lord is doing in Zion unless somehow or other the bread that God has given us is shared not only physically, naturally, but even the spiritual bread. [00:16:48] Oh, I must just say this to the folks here. I know people all over the place who would give an arm or a leg if they could just live in a nearer company like this. To be able to know the fellowship, to be able to know the ministry, to be able to share in things. But many of us who've been here for years, we've got so blase about the whole thing. We're so used to it all. What we need to do is share our bread with the hungry. We need to get right down. What does it mean? What can we do? What would the Lord have us do that we've all got to face the Lord one day and he's going to say to you, I gave you so much. What did you do about it? Did you hold it to yourself? Did you just become a lot of murmurers? You became sort of self contented, middle aged, spread? You got well fed and somehow or other you just felt, well, you know, where we've got this, we've got that. Oh, if you could only understand the famine that there is amongst the people of God. If you could only know the need that there is amongst the family of God and the call that comes to us. Deal thy bread to the hungry. [00:17:57] Bring the poor that is cast out into thy house. [00:18:03] When you see him that is naked, cover him. Don't condemn him. Cover him. [00:18:11] Oh, when we find someone uncovered, we talk about it. Have you heard about so and so? So and so? So was a servant of the Lord. He's fallen into sin. Have you heard? He did this and this. And this. And this. Dreadful, isn't it? [00:18:28] When you see him that is naked, stripped, cover him, pray for him, get down beside him. [00:18:39] Seek to restore him in a spirit of meekness, considering yourselves lest you also be tempted. [00:18:48] We need to face some of these things. I think sometimes those situations. I'm not saying that it's particularly here in this company because they're everywhere. Everywhere I go, I find people sort of with these kind of problems where there are people who are in need and somehow or other those dear ones have been overlooked. We're all so busy that we overlook the people in need, the destitute, the lonely, the afflicted. And I don't just mean people who look as if they're destitute and afflicted and lonely. There are some people who seem to really be serving the Lord well. But in their heart they're destitute. They're in great need. Only love and compassion detect such destitution. [00:19:33] Nothing else. We don't. We never see beneath the surface. We never look. [00:19:39] We don't go deeper than the skin when it's just a matter of truth. But when there is love and compassion, we see into the heart. [00:19:52] Well, then, of course, there is a third thing which we have in verse nine. The last part of verse nine and verse ten. [00:20:01] Here it is. [00:20:04] If thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke. Thats the first thing. Secondly, take away the putting forth of the finger and speaking wickedly. And thirdly, draw out your soul to the hungry and satisfy the afflicted. Now this is very interesting. Because this time the Lord speaks here about the yoke in our midst. [00:20:29] Before, it wasn't the yoke in our midst. It was just loose the bonds of wickedness. Undo the bands of the yoke. Let the oppressed go free. Break every yoke. Then it came nearer home. Deal your bread to the hungry. Share your bread with the hungry. [00:20:46] Bring the poor that is cast into your house. When you see the naked. Cover him. You cover him. And hide not yourself from your own flesh. Now we suddenly find that the Lord's talking about in our midst. In your midst. If thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke, the putting forth of the finger and speaking wickedly. And draw out your soul to the hungry and satisfy the afflicted soul. Now it's come home to ourselves. Look, dear ones, we're talking now about those within the gates. Now we're talking about those within the gates. You know, we're soldiers. Many a time soldiers receive wounds. And sometimes our attitude toward one another can be a metallic attitude, a mechanical attitude. We don't understand. Sometimes these wounds that people receive. Indeed, the terrible nature that sometimes we leave them to it and we condemn them for it. [00:21:48] If we're really in this battle for Zion, there are going to be casualties. What a lovely thing our Lord Jesus said about the twelve whom God had given him. In John 17, he said this. [00:22:06] Verse nine. I pray for them. I pray not for the world, but for those whom thou hast given me. For they are thine. And all things that are mine are thine. And thine are mine. And I am glorified in them. Verse twelve. While I was with them. I kept them in thy name, which thou has given me. And I guarded them. And not one of them perished but the son of perdition. [00:22:32] Now, dont you think thats interesting? Did you hear the words of the Lord Jesus? Does this explain those nights of prayer? Does this explain his prayer life? Listen. He said, Father, you've given me these twelve. [00:22:45] I've kept them in thy name. What does it mean I've kept them in thy name? Somehow or other, the Lord Jesus saw that in the name of God, in the name of the living God, there was authority. And he covered them in the name of the Lord. He kept them in the name of the Lord. He, as it were, guarded them. And not one of them is lost. [00:23:07] Now, I would have thought that we could have sort of said, well, what was the need of all that? Surely, if they were chosen by God and foreordained by God, there was no need for the Lord Jesus to keep them. But listen to me very carefully. Anyone who comes into association with the king is at the heart of the battle. And the closer your relationship to the king and the nearer you get to the heart of the matter, the greater the battle will be. [00:23:39] And this is even so of servants of the Lord. If I must just say it as an aside, when we come into association with servants of the Lord, those whom God has really anointed and is using, we come into a battle. All kinds of things begin to happen to us just because of our association with them in the work of the Lord. [00:24:02] Now what are we to do? We need to learn this lesson of keeping the whole family in the name of the Lord, of guarding those whom God has given us. That we lose none. [00:24:16] Otherwise, as we go along, there will come the inexplicable strange things will come in shafts, fiery darts of the enemy, something suddenly coming in and just waylaying someone, they're knocked out. And before we know where we are, we have this casualty and that casualty and the other casualty. Now will you notice what the Lord tells us to do? He says we are to take away the yoke from our midst. Now, I find this interesting. It means that there can be a yoke in the midst of God's people. Here we are, God's liberated, freed people. And yet there can be a yoke in our midst. [00:24:55] What is this yoke? Well, it can be all kinds of things. It can be undealt sin. [00:25:01] Undealt with sin. [00:25:04] It can be some kind of thing thats been carried over from the past, something weve never repented of those things sometimes God has to put his finger upon and we have to face them and bring it right out into the open and really know what it is to have that yoke broken. But I think even more, what I was speaking about this morning is very true in this connection, that the enemy is all the time seeking to bring a heaviness into the atmosphere somehow, to bring us into some kind of rut, into a routine. Now that everything has to have a routine. [00:25:41] I mean, let's face it, I know sometimes we try to keep out of routines, but really and truthfully, in the end the whole of life is made up of routines of one kind or another. [00:25:51] The danger is when the routine becomes a rut, when what we have to do suddenly becomes a kind of rigor mortis sets in, then it becomes a straightjacket. [00:26:07] Instead of being a vehicle in which the life of God and the way of God is expressed, it becomes a straitjacket in which the way of God and the life of God is limited. [00:26:18] We need to watch all this, these yokes. Don't think for a single moment that the enemy is not trying to bring you back into a yoke. He is. And we have to help one another in this manner. And this is where, as I was saying this morning, there's such a need of openness. If we can open up to one another, especially in our home fellowships, this is a glorious opportunity to really open up to one another. You know, we have one or two problems. First of all, we're all very shy of one another. Secondly, well, most are. [00:26:50] Secondly, we're a little afraid of one another, of what might happen if we let any cats out of the bag. You know, we think, what will they do? How will they react? What will they do with the information they get? You know, some people sort of say, I'll come and tell you, but I'm not going to tell anybody else. But this isn't a principle of fellowship. Sometimes we have to say, I'm sorry, I'm not going to listen, because you've got at times to go to your brothers and sisters. Because it's not your brothers and sisters, it's the whole principle that's involved. It is the Lord in the midst of his own. [00:27:24] And if you can't confess your faults one to another, there's no hope. [00:27:28] It means you don't trust your brothers and sisters. You have no confidence in your. In other words, when it comes down to the final analysis, you do not trust the Lord in them. [00:27:40] But there has to come a point where we're really ready to come right down to rock bottom and open up to one another and not be afraid to say, I feel somehow or other a kind of deadness has come into my life, or a bondage has come into me in some way, or I find myself unable to do this and this and this. Pray for me. What a wonderful thing it is when we are able to open up like this to one another and really pray for one another in these ways. What about this putting forth of the finger and speaking wickedly? [00:28:16] What is this putting forth of the finger? Well, it's just simply this kind of thing. [00:28:26] Isn't it amazing how we all know someone who's the problem? [00:28:33] You know what I mean? Sometimes people can listen to this kind of message and actually be thinking, I hope so. And so is getting this now without even realizing it. You have been putting forth the finger. [00:28:50] It is the most effective psychological way of deflecting God's word from ourselves. Now we all do this. Have you ever known someone who the moment you start to get near whatever is their problem, they immediately begin to talk to you about somebody else? [00:29:07] They deflect the whole thing. [00:29:10] The woman of Samaria did that. When the Lord was getting a bit too near to the bone in the matter, she suddenly said, oh, I perceive that you're a prophet, and brought up a whole theological problem. [00:29:21] But he wouldn't have it. He said, go, remember, it was all to do with her husband. [00:29:28] And in the end, the whole facade fell to pieces. And she stood there before him for what she really was and found the Lord. Now, my point is this. Putting forth of the finger is one of the great problems in the fellowship of God's people. What does James say about this matter? He says quite a bit, actually, in James chapter three. I don't know if you've ever really read this, but listen to these words. Be not many of you teachers, my brethren, teachers, use the tongue, knowing that ye shall receive heavier judgment. For in many things we all stumble. If any stumbleth not in word the same is a perfect man able to bridle the whole body also. Now, if we put the horses bridles into their mouths, that they may obey us, we turn about their whole body also. Behold the ships also, though they are so great and are driven by rough winds, are yet turned about by a very small rudder, whither the impulse of the steersman willeth. So the tongue also is a little member and boasteth great things. Behold how much wood is kindled by how small a fire. And the tongue is a fire. The world of iniquity among our members is the tongue, which defileth the whole body and setteth on fire the wheel of nature, and is set on fire by hell. [00:30:55] Those are solemn words, the tongue. [00:31:02] I don't suppose there's hardly a person in this room who hasn't sinned with their tongue. I certainly have. [00:31:09] Wouldn't you be ready to admit that when you read words like this, you know very well that your tongue has led you into real problems, real difficulties? Often it's a root of bitterness deep, deep down in our lives. And, oh, it comes out. And we speak things about another person behind their back. We point the finger, we condemn them. [00:31:37] I'd love to give some examples of this, but I'm afraid that it may not be wise. [00:31:46] Ive seen some terrible things amongst the people of God, servants of the Lord, crucified by wicked, wicked tongues. [00:32:01] This is why there are some works, some so called christian works, that never recover from generation to generation. You can go to certain places which have a history of trouble going back a hundred years, because that membership, that community, has never repented of things that were said in the presence of the Lord. [00:32:25] Never forget the words of our mouth. We may forget, but they are recorded, as the word says. By every word that you have spoken, you shall be judged. Now, the only way to get rid of that is to come to face to face with it and allow the Lord to deal with it. And I say that the tongue is the hardest member in our whole being to really be brought under the government of God. [00:32:51] There's a lot here speaking about this matter. Look at Galatians chapter five and verse 14. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word, even in thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. But if ye bite and devour one another, heed that ye be not consumed one of another. [00:33:15] In other words, once we start this pointing of the finger and speaking wickedly about one another, we bite and devour one, and we are consumed one of another. [00:33:26] May the Lord preserve us from such a thing. Our Lord said in the Gospel of Luke, chapter six and verse 37, judge not, and ye shall not be judged. Condemn not and ye shall not be condemned. Release, and ye shall be released. Give, and it shall be given unto you good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, shall they give into your bosom. How would you like to be dealt with now? I do not believe, as some believe, in that kind of naive gullibility that you swallow anything about any believer. You know that you must believe every single word they said, that is not true. The scripture gives the balance to this. He that is spiritual judgeth all things. But the difference is criticism and spiritual mature judgment are two very different things. You know, just malicious criticism. The way we tear one another to pieces, the way we strip one another, as it were, naked, the way we condemn, the way we point the finger at one another, that is destructive. But to know where a person stands, to know their failings, to know their faults and be able to take it to God and love them even the more, that is really maturity. [00:34:48] Do you notice that we are to take away the putting forth of the finger and speaking wickedly? [00:35:00] Some people don't like this. My word. It's an interesting thing that people who speak very wickedly with the tongue, when finally faced with authority on this matter, get terribly upset and go around telling everybody how the brothers dealt harshly with me, how wickedly they dealt with me. It is a very strange thing that often our own worst fault is what we feel someone else is doing to us. [00:35:33] Now, the word is quite clear here. God doesn't say, I will take away the putting forth of the thing he does. In the end, what he says is that we must deal with it. Now, dear friends, don't try to get the log. Don't try and get the moat out of somebody else's eye. Start with the log in your own. [00:35:56] If we're going to get rid of this putting forth of the finger and this speaking wickedly, let each one of us repent before the Lord in this matter and say, lord, I don't want to destroy Zion. I don't want to become the means by which the whole work of Zion, the building of Zion, is paralyzed. I don't want to root this thing out of me. Deal with it, Lord, fill me with love somehow or other. Bring this tongue of mine under the government of God. And then you will notice that we are to draw out our souls to the hungry and satisfy the afflicted. That is interesting, isn't it? Drawing out our souls. You see, we tend to think, well, you know, we all know that there are people in need, but we leave it to everybody else. But it says, draw out your soul to the hungry. [00:36:49] You've got to do something. If this work of Zion means that you and I have got to care for one another, sometimes something happens whereby those within Zion become hungry and become poor and become destitute and afflicted, and we've got to care for them. If we don't have compassion upon one another, what hope is there? [00:37:11] If love does not start with the household of God, what hope is there? [00:37:17] We can talk about longing for that the Lord would send an awakening to the Thames valley. And I believe that in the end, something will happen. For we've had enough promises over the last 25 years on this matter. But I sometimes wonder whether the Lord has to hold up, because he's saying, my people are just not ready. [00:37:35] If I were to bring something, and thousands upon thousands were swept into the kingdom, what would happen? The weaknesses that have not been dealt with would just come right out and break up the whole thing. [00:37:48] So we have to face these things where there are problems amongst us, in us. Let God really deal with these things. What a wonderful promise we have as a result of this. If we will take away this yoke from the midst of us, the putting forth of the finger and speaking wickedly, and if we will draw out our soul to the hungry and satisfy the afflicted soul, then comes the promise. Thy light shall rise in darkness. There may be thick darkness everywhere. But God says, my dawn will dawn on you. A new day will begin with you in your area, amongst that people, in that nation. And thy gloom, thine obscurity shall become as noonday. Thy gloom shall be as midday. And then he says, and the Lord will guide thee continually. What a wonderful word. He says, I'll keep my eye upon them specially. I know their frailty and weakness, but I'll guide them continually, so there's no chance of them coming out of my will or getting out of my way. And I will satisfy their soul in scratch, scorched places, and I will make strong their bones. That's the inner part of them which gives rise to all their healthiness. I will look after that. I will make it my responsibility. What a promise. If we will only let deal with these things. God says, I'll take care of the heart of the whole work. I'll look after the bones and the marrow. I will see that the bones are strong. I will see that they are guided continually in the center of my will. And then he goes on and says, they shall be like a spring of water whose waters fail not. A watered garden. Well, thats lovely. We here, of course, have plenty of water, and youve certainly had enough rain, I understand, in the last few months, but, oh, how wonderful it is in countries which are dry and hot and arid, to walk into a garden, just like reviving. Sometimes when one goes around Jerusalem on various errands or doing various things, and you walk into the garden tomb, your spirit revives as you step in all that greenery, those trees, it just does something to you. In a hot country, a garden means something. [00:40:03] What a wonderful promise then that we shall be like a water garden, a spring of waters, of water whose waters fail not. And they that shall be of thee shall build the old wastes places. They shall raise up the foundations of many generations. Thou shalt be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of streets in which to dwell. [00:40:26] Now look at this last thing that the Lord speaks about. It is, I would call it the rites of the Lord. It thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight. And the holy of the Lord honorable honour it not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words. Then thou shalt delight in him. [00:40:53] Thou shalt ride upon the high places of the earth. [00:40:57] And I will feed thee with the heritage of Jacob, thy father. For the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it. The rites of what is the Sabbath. Now I know that there may be some who come from a background where of course, you belong to that very strict sabbatarianism, the Sunday is the Sabbath, and all the law that we have in the Old Testament is applied to that day. Well, the Lord bless you. As the scripture says, if there are those who keep sabbaths, let them keep them. If they feel they should keep it unto the Lord, let them keep it unto the Lord. But what I want to talk about is the principle of the whole thing. Why did the Lord take one day in seven and say, you must give this one day to me? Now, straight away, of course, there is the whole question of health. There's no doubt about it that one day of recreation, of rest, of doing something different to the other six days, has a very real effect upon us mentally and physically. But I think it is dangerous when we think of it like that, because people then think of Sunday. Well, what's the point of coming together in meetings? Why don't we go out in the park? Why not go down to the swimming pool, have a swim? It's a day of recreation and rest. I don't get any mental refreshment from that lot sitting with them in that hot room. I think it'd be better to go. You see, that's the kind of argument that isn't the Sabbath. It may be one of the by products of the Sabbath, but the main point of the Sabbath is the rights of the Lord. [00:42:32] The rights of the Lord. [00:42:34] It's as if he is saying, now remember, this day is my day, and on this day you remember that you are mine, that I have redeemed you, that you belong to me. And the other six days are to be lived in the light of the Sabbath, the rites of the Lord. [00:42:53] You see what he says? You shall call it, if you will only turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight and holy unto the Lord, holy unto the Lord, separated unto the Lord, you shall call it a delight. Many people do not find the rights of the Lord a delight. [00:43:19] They find it almost a bondage. [00:43:25] This is a mental conception. I know I say this without fear of contradiction. In all the years that I have belonged to the Lord and the years I've been in his ministry, I have never met a person who's given the Lord his rights, who's been bound, never. [00:43:48] I've met a lot of people who say they've given the Lord his rights and are in absolute straitjackets. [00:43:54] They're serving a doctrine or a movement or a thing. But I don't know anybody who's given the Lord his rights, who is not a person who has joy. [00:44:07] Do you really think that you can put the Lord in your debt? Never. You think you say, Lord, I'm going to give you your rights. I'm going to be terribly miserable about it, but I'm going to give you your rights. And when I've given you your rights, and I'm terribly miserable about just you remember, I gave you your rights. [00:44:22] You know, this is the kind of mentality we have with the Lord. We sort of say, lord, you know, you're in my debt. [00:44:29] You're in my debt, Lord, I've had to sacrifice this for you and that for you and the other for you, and I didn't do this, Lord, and I didn't do that, Lord, for you, Lord, just remember, you're in debt, lord, to me. [00:44:44] My life's been quite miserable because of you. [00:44:47] Whole lot of things I could have done if I'd just not been thinking about you. But because of you I've had to do this and this and this. Now just you remember, Lord, you're in. My dear, the Lord is no man's debtor. [00:45:02] If you give the Lord his right, he will fill you in the end with such joy and such peace and such fullness that you'll forever praise him for what he is. You'll never be talking about, Lord, just you remember what I've done for you. You'll never think. You'll just find it a privilege to serve him, a privilege to know him. These are the people who've really given the Lord his rights. What does it mean? Put first things first. That's what it means. [00:45:27] You have it in Matthew and chapter six if you want to look at it. Matthew and chapter six and verse 33. But seek ye first his kingdom and his righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you. Did you hear that? What are all these things? What to eat, what to be clothed with, where to sleep, all these other things. Did you hear what the Lord said? If you give him his rights and put first things first, all these things shall be added unto you. [00:46:09] Have you got any problems about these things? [00:46:17] Life consists of worrying about these things. Where to get the money to buy food, where to get the money to buy clothing, how to pay the rates, how to pay the rent. [00:46:32] But you see what the Lord says? He says that if you put first him and his kingdom, all these things shall be added unto you. [00:46:42] It's as if the Lord says, I'm going to take responsibility for you. You're putting first things first. You've turned away your foot from your own pleasure on my sabbath. [00:46:55] You've called it a delight. You've called it honourable and holy to the Lord. And because you've given me my rights, because you put first things first, I will come into your life and do for you far more than you could have ever believed possible. [00:47:13] Oh, the Lord will do this for one after another of us if we would only take this step of giving him his rights. See what the Lord says here in this same chapter in verse 21. For where thy treasure is, there will thy heart be also. The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore thine eye be single thy whole body shall be full of light. But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness how great is the darkness? No man can serve two masters. For either he will hate the one and love the other or else he will hold to one and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. [00:47:57] Now, this matter of a single eye and an evil eye. I think, because of the old English we think of an evil eye as being an eye for pornography. [00:48:07] You know, a kind of eye. That's who picks up the wrong things. No, I'm quite sure that's right. I think an evil eye will lead to your whole body being full of darkness. But what our lord really meant by evil eyes, double vision. If you get anything wrong with your eyes and you don't have focused vision, you can get real trouble. You can get very bad headaches for the start. And another thing is this, you just don't see. [00:48:34] Now, any of you who've got problems with your eyes, you know this, don't you? [00:48:39] One eye sees more clearly and the other eye doesn't. So the two have a little battle and your whole body is full of darkness. Believe me, some of you know what it is to get really severe headaches because of that, because there's something wrong with vision as we get older. [00:48:54] It is a wonderful thing to have properly harmonized vision, isn't it? And to see things clearly and so on. Now, my point is, our lord said, if there's something wrong with your sight, with your eyes, you're seeing two things all the time. Your whole body will be full of darkness. But if you have a single eye that is your both eyes focused, your whole body will be full of light. [00:49:23] Come back to this. Isaiah, chapter 58. What does he say? He says, then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord. Oh, what a wonderful word. So when we give the Lord his rights, it's as if the Lord unveils his heart to us. [00:49:39] Some people come to me and say, you know, I sought the Lord and he never met me. Well, maybe it's something to do with this kind of thing. We just, we've got to give the Lord his rights and come under his lordship. When we do that, when we come to that place, then it says, he will. [00:49:58] Then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord. And I will make thee to ride upon the high places of the earth. [00:50:06] And I will feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father. [00:50:10] What is the heritage of Jacob thy father? Grace and more grace. And more grace and even more grace. Thats the heritage of Jacob your father. [00:50:22] The Lord fed him with grace. He lived by grace. [00:50:27] He was transformed by grace. He fulfilled the purpose of God through the grace of God. It was grace from beginning to end. [00:50:36] He fed on the faithfulness of the Lord. [00:50:43] And so it will be with you. And what about riding on the high places of the earth? This means you shall not be beneath, but above. You shall not be the tail, but you'll be the head. Praise the Lord. What a promise. I give the Lord his rights. The enemy will certainly try to squash me, but it doesn't matter. The Lord will bring me out on top every time because he's promised. I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth. It's the principle of the cross. You go down, but you go up. And if you go down, you will certainly go up. And the farther down you go, the farther up you will go. Isn't that wonderful? I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth. Well, now we must bring all this to a close. Our time has gone. But you see what a wonderful thing the whole matter is. [00:51:34] When I come to Isaiah, chapter 60, and I read these wonderful words that we read, I read a little earlier to you. Arise, shine, for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the peoples. But the Lord will arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee. Now, isn't it interesting that two of these promises are just about this? It says in Isaiah 58 eight, then shall thy light break forth as the morning and thy healing shall spring forth speedily. Or again in verse ten, then shall thy light rise in darkness, and thy gloom be as midday. [00:52:29] Listen. Arise, shine, for thy light is come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. Don't think that it's just going to be easy. It says, darkness shall cover the earth and gross darkness the peoples. [00:52:46] But the Lord will arise upon thee and his glory shall be seen upon thee. Dear friends, I'm perfectly prepared for gross darkness. If it means that for the zion of God the glory of the Lord is seen upon her, then the very darkness of the nations, the very darkness of the whole political systems of this world, will only drive men and women who want truth and long for God into the light. [00:53:24] It will be like a beacon that will flash out over vast, vast area so that people can see it and turn to the Lord. And what does the Lord say here? Listen to these wonderful words. Verse seven, last part. I will glorify the house of my glory. Last part of verse eight. The holy one of Israel, because he hath glorified thee. Or again, the last part of verse 13. I will make the place of my feet glorious, or the last part of this, and they shall call thee the city of the Lord, the zion of the holy one of Israel. Dear people of God, what a wonderful thing it is to know this glory of the Lord upon us. [00:54:12] The book says in the New Testament, in two corinthians, chapter three, that we are taken on from glory to glory. [00:54:22] This, of course, doesnt just mean from ecstasy to ecstasy. It means from one capacity of glory to another capacity of glory. But how wonderful the Lord is to us that he does touch us at times with his glory, doesn't he? It's not all just sort of having to battle through and go on and on. There are times when the glory of the Lord touches us, when we know that the Lord is manifesting himself, when we know that somehow or other, those invisible forces are witnessing the power of God. And a demonstration. [00:54:53] The Lord, the Holy Spirit, Zion. [00:55:03] In Isaiah, chapter twelve, in the last verse, it was read to us this morning. [00:55:11] It says, cry aloud and shout, thou inhabitant of Zion, for great in the midst of thee is the holy one of Israel. [00:55:22] I don't know what these times have meant to many of you, but one thing I think we can be absolutely certain about this whole question of Zion is of the utmost importance to the Lord. [00:55:39] Coming back to that psalm two with which we began on Thursday evening, we read in verse six, yet have I set my king upon Zion, the mountain of my holiness. I will tell of the decree. The Lord said unto me, thou art my son. This day have I begotten thee. Ask of me, and I will give thee the nations for thine inheritance, and the outermost parts of the earth for thy possession. [00:56:10] The Lord purposes glory for his people. [00:56:16] I wish that we could all rise up as one to really pray that somehow that glory of the Lord might not only touch us, but through us touch the community in which we live. Here and the Thames valley and this whole nation. Do you believe it's possible? I say it is absolutely possible every single time that the spirit of God in the history of the church has really worked. He started with some insignificant man, some little tiny group of people, and through them he's turned the world upside down. Look what he did in Jerusalem right at the beginning. 120 unknowns, and with them he turned Jerusalem upside down. And then Judea, and then Samaria, and then to the uttermost parts of the earth. [00:57:09] God hasn't changed. [00:57:12] He can do the whole thing again. If once the king is in his place in Zion, if once Zion is being built, if once the purpose of the Lord is seen, if once there is a taking, as it were, of the nations for the Lord, this exercising of dominion over the principalities and powers over the nations. Three things. The king, Zion, and the uttermost parts of the earth for his possession. [00:57:51] I quoted it this morning in numbers, chapter 14 and verse 21. The Lord said, as truly as I live, saith the Lord, the earth shall be filled with the glory of God. [00:58:12] And the prophet Isaiah said in Isaiah, chapter eleven and verse nine, for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. And Habakkuk put it this way, and the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. The Lord has tremendous purposes of glory. Do you really believe, think for a moment, that this dear old creation around us, which we are so destroying and polluting and damaging, do you really believe that this wonderful creation, which has existed for so many thousands of years, is what God originally intended? [00:59:04] No, I don't myself. [00:59:07] We see, as it were within it, something of the original design, something of the original purpose, and it fills our hearts with worship and praise. The more we see what there is in this natural creation. [00:59:23] It is so wonderful, such a harmony, such a fine balance. It is incredible. And yet to understand that it has never fulfilled the original purpose of God. It says in romans eight as it was read to us this morning by Pat, it says, for the creation was subjected to vanity. Romans 820. Not of its own will, but by reason of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the liberty of the glory of the children of God. Now, this thrills me because it means that every tree, every flower, every animal is only a shadow of the original idea, as if somehow or other we just see something that is the faintest, faintest, faintest idea of what God originally wanted. But man, the heart of the whole thing, fell. And because man fell, it was as if the hub fell out of the whole wheel, the centre was destroyed and the whole thing was subjected to vanity, not because the creation itself was evil, but because man fell. [01:00:48] And therefore God subjected it to vanity. An endless cycle of seasons out of which it can never, never, never burst forth. [01:01:01] God has a purpose for this earth. The apostle Peter put it very simply in acts, chapter two, chapter three and verse 20 and 21, that he may send the messiah who has been appointed for you, even Jesus, whom the heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things whereof God spake by the mouth of his holy prophets that have been from of old. There's a time coming when everything's going to be restored. And when we come to the last chapters of the Bible, what do we find? We find the king and we find his zion. And we hear these wonderful behold, I make all things new. The former things have passed away. Behold, I make all things new. And what are the former things? Sorrow, death, crying, pain. These things belong to the former world. It's passed away. [01:02:01] He that sitteth on the throne, it says, maketh all things new. Oh, I want to be in that. I want to be in that. Listen, young person, you may not even know why you're a Christian. You may not even know why God has saved you. Do you know that the grace of God is so wonderful toward you, young teenager, that God has saved you and brought you into any invincible movement for the liberation of the world? This is a movement. You know, the communists speak of the inexorable march of history, the onward march of history. They say it's inexorable. What is going to happen is going to happen. It's all part of the evolutionary process. Well, let them think that. All I know is this. I don't think there's ever any evolutionary process like that. I believe God is behind the evolution, if there is one. And to me, the wonderful thing is this. There is a movement that began in heaven and came with the Redeemer to bring back not just man to himself, but the whole universe to himself, so that in the end the original purpose of God for this dear old earth will be fulfilled. I want to be part of that. Every time I see this earth polluted, every time I see what man fallen man has done to this poor old world, I weep inside. But I think there's coming a day when the king will come. And when the king will come, it'll not be a day of politics anymore. It won't be a day of diplomacy anymore. He won't have to shake hands with evil murderers and sort of try to plan some coexistence with them. He won't have to have them to the table to talk with and try to work out some way of keeping everything in balance. Thank God righteousness will be the foundation of his throne. And what is truth will be said and done and obeyed. Oh, what a day. [01:03:52] People say to me, well, you must be an absolute wild fanatic. Fancy believing something like you, really. I do. [01:03:58] I absolutely do. [01:04:02] I'm a messianist. [01:04:06] I can't be anything else. Every other thing in this world has failed, hasn't it? [01:04:12] Every single system, socialist, capitalist, or whatever else, it's all failed. There's only one hope for this world. It'll never grow better and better and better until the golden age come. I've lived long enough to hear Churchill and others tell us, the golden age is just round the corner. We are marching into the golden era. We've never marched into it. My goodness me, we've never marched into the zone. I love Mister Churchill. I think God raised him up at the right time as far as this country and the free world was concerned. But my goodness me, we never marched into that golden era, that golden age. We never will. It won't come by just a process. It will come by divine intervention. [01:04:54] Suddenly one day there will appear in the heavens the sign of the Son of man. I don't know what that sign is. I've often thought it would be a star of David because that would unite the whole muslim world and jewish world and christian world. [01:05:12] Great David's greatest. I don't know what the sign is, but it will be in the heavens. And when that sign comes he will come with great power and glory in the clouds of heaven. I believe it with all my heart. There's no other hope for this world. [01:05:26] Man in his present state just has to coexist with evil. He has to somehow just try to keep the whole thing in check. Everything begins out as if it's got great hope and ends in failure and catastrophe. But when this messiah comes then last peace will come to the earth and righteousness and unity and death will be banished and sorrow and sighing and pain and anguish. All those things will have passed away. [01:06:03] They belong to the former thing. [01:06:06] And then, friends, oh, the thrill of it. People say to me, I think heaven's going to be so boring. [01:06:13] You know, some of you youngsters, now be honest, some of you youngsters, you've said it to me at times you dare not tell some of the others but you have said it to me. You said to me, when you open your heart I think heaven will be dreadfully boring. Is it going to be like those endless meetings where we just sing and sing and sing and sing, sing and sing. It seems that some people give us the idea in heaven we sing about these. We're going to have great big worship time for a thousand years. And after we've had a thousand years worship time we'll have a little sort of interlude where the angels will serve tea or coffee according to your life. [01:06:47] And then after that a bell will ring again after an interlude of 500 years and we'll have a 2000 year time of worship. And then after that another bell will ring and we'll have another little interlude where we'll sort of sit around in heaven on our golden thrones. And then after that there will be another long, great session. [01:07:09] But the. [01:07:11] It's nothing like that at all. [01:07:13] Nothing like that at all. No one knows what is stored up for the ages to come. [01:07:20] It is a secret. [01:07:22] We only have a glimpse that it is connected with the liberty of the glory of the children of God, when God has got his Zion, when God has got that bride without spot, without blemish, so that she can be presented to him, when he's brought her to the place where she can be the queen, where she can reign with him, jointly with him from the throne, then this whole chapter will be over, that we have all known in time. And the glorious chapters that are yet to be written will be written one by one. And we shall see these trees developing into whatever God meant them to be. Isn't that amazing? That's why the prophets says they will clap their hands. He says the hills will shout for joy. [01:08:22] I want to be in that. I don't find that the least bit boring. [01:08:27] If I look at this old world with all the wonder that's in this universe, I think if this is a fallen universe, paralyzed and in bondage to corruption and vanity, what's it going to be like in the end when the whole thing is released? [01:08:48] It's going to be just one word, glory. [01:08:55] I want to be part of that, don't you? [01:08:58] It's one thing to be saved, it's another thing to be committed to God, Zion, and to allow him not only to bring you into union with himself and build you together with others locally, but to bring you to the place where you learn to reign with him. [01:09:21] Thats what its all about. [01:09:24] And if the Lord can get that for you and for me, praise God. You know, at the beginning of the age, the apostle Paul said some things like this read to us this morning in romans eight, about the whole creation being on tiptoe waiting for this thing to happen, waiting for the children of God. [01:09:43] If he wrote about that some 2000, nearly 2000 years ago, people have had to wait a long time. But I can tell you quite confidently, I don't believe we've got that long to wait. We really are in the end. And I believe that most of the folks here, your eyes will see the coming of the Messiah because some of the great milestones of prophecy have been actually put in their place. Theyve been unveiled so that for the first time we know where we are. [01:10:14] Praise God. If we are so near to that coming of the Lord, isnt the most obvious thing to do is to go through the gates to commit oneself to start this, preparing of the way for the, of the people to cast up the highway to gather out the stones. [01:10:32] God help us. [01:10:35] Thine eyes shall see the king in his beauty. [01:10:42] Thou shalt see a land of far distances. [01:10:50] Shall we pray dear Lord, we pray together that in thy mercy and in thy grace, thou wilt unveil something of this to our hearts. We want to be in this movement of thy spirit. [01:11:17] We want to be part of that tremendous movement toward the restoration of all things to thyself. And we want it to begin with ourselves. We want all rebellion in our hearts to be rooted out. Lord, we want to know the lordship of the king of the Lord Jesus. We want to know, in reality and truth, his love shed a board in our hearts. [01:11:41] Lord, only thou canst deal with us, and only thou canst apply this word to every heart as it ought to be. [01:11:50] And this we ask in the name of our Lord Jesus. [01:11:57] Amen.