All right, good morning. I was kind of dizzy this morning. Like, boy, that same stunt in the closet I did before. Went in there and something about that closet, I don't know. World turned around without me a time or two. But anyway, I told Billy, I said, Little short of breath this morning. I need one of them machines. I saw one that you can plush your head out. I may need one of them. But she gave me some Q-tips. She said, maybe just clean your ears out. Maybe that'll do it. 18th chapter of the book of Isaiah. I think we read verses three down through seven. I don't have anything new for you this morning. Solomon said it wasn't anything new under the sun. It's all the same. You know, with the Lord, everything has been done. It's complete. Nothing caught him by surprise. He's always ahead of everything. Had it all planned out before the foundation of the world. You can't get much more sovereign than that. Sovereign grace. For by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourself is the gift of God. It all comes, God all centers up on Him. On the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. And all is one. In verse three, he said, all ye inhabitants of the world and dwellers on the earth, see ye. When he lifted up an instant on the mountains, and when he bloweth a trumpet, hear ye. For so the Lord said unto me, I will take my rest, and I will consider in my dwelling place like a clear heat upon herbs, and like a cloud of dew in the heat of the harvest. For afore the harvest, when the bud is perfect and the sour grape is ripening in the flower, he shall both cut off the sprigs with the pruning hooks and take away the cut and cut down the branches. They shall be left together unto the fowls of the mountains and unto the beast of the earth. And the fowls shall slumber upon them, and all the beasts of the earth shall winter upon them. And then in that time, and this is where we'll really be dwelling this morning, in the seventh verse, up until this, he's talking about, the Lord's talking about taking away all the encumbrances that have been upon Israel, especially the other nations that had come and made war with them, always making war with them. And the Lord's going to take that out of the way. We're living in the last days. People won't talk about the last days. We're in the last days, and the Lord's busy doing just that. He's at work at it. Although, once again, we go back to the same idea. All it has to do is just speak one word, and it's done. It's sure. Even before the foundation of the world, it was sure. Lord gathered up people, give it to the Son. Now we come to the seventh verse, and it says, and in that time shall the present be brought unto the Lord of hosts. And he's going to tell us what that is, a people, a certain people. From a people, from a people terrible from their beginning, hither to a nation. Well, I need to back up, skip too much here. And he brought unto the Lord a host of people scattered and pilled. and from a people terrible from their beginning, hitherto the nation meted out and trodden underfoot, whose land and rivers have spalled, to the place of the name of the Lord of Hosts, Thee. Take particular attention to that Thee, Thee. the Mount Zion. So the Lord is going to bring it to them. In the book of John, the 17th chapter, In verse one, it said in a word, the word spake Jesus and lifted up his eyes to heaven and said, Father, the hour has come. And that's where we're at in that 17th verse. In its eyes have come to heaven and said, Father, the hour has come, glorified thy son. that thy son also may glorify thee, and thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him. Now this is a people that's gonna be delivered up. This is the gift he's gonna give back to the Father, those who's given to him. And this is life eternal, that they might know thee, the only true God in Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. And I have gathered thee, glorified thee on the earth. I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do. And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self, with the glory which I had with thee before the world was. And I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me. out of the world, thine they were. And thou gavest them me, and they have kept thy word. And I have known, and they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee. We said it a week or two ago of peculiar people, father give the son to peculiar people. And the son laid it down in his life that he might save them and keep them. You can't get much more sovereign than this, can you? Fears of certain people. The father's given the son. And the son has taken care to guard all the time that we're in this world. and keep us and teach us, he said, all things by the Holy Ghost, that we might know all things. But here's a people, a peculiar people to all the people in the world. They're different. They just don't think alike. Don't think like the people of the world. You can't have the same conversation with them. There are different people that God has given to the son. He goes on, he said there are people that's scattered. That's the present he's gonna bring, that people. That certain people. People that are marked of God, that are written in the Lamb's book of life. They're gonna be delivered up in you now. with the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, all in Zion. The, the Zion. Not just any, but a particular Zion. The Zion of the Lord. He's put this together. Sovereign grace. For by grace, or you say, by grace, your people, By grace, you're the people of God. Let the Father give unto the Son. He took special care that you might watch over them. Then he said, they're a scattered people. Certain we are, aren't we? Scattered all through the world. They have been ever since the beginning of time, almost. They were scattered. Well, that is of importance because the Lord's gonna gather them up from the four winds, he said, and bring them, bring them to the temple. They're gonna join hand and say, let's go up to the temple and worship the people that are scattered, scattered out. 1 Peter, the first chapter, that's the way he begins. In verse one, he said, Peter, an apostle of Christ, of Jesus Christ, to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, elect, elect. Now we're going back to what the Father hath given unto the Son. Delect. Go back to sovereign. How sovereign can it be? the elect according to the foreknowledge. This didn't just come upon the Lord suddenly. According to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the spirits unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ. He's gonna save his people by sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ, he said, grace be unto you. Grace, for by grace are you saved. Grace be unto you, and peace be multiplied. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. to an inheritance incorruptible, undefined, and that fate is not a way reserved in heaven for you, for you that the Father hath given unto the Son, for you that the Son has laid down His life that He might secure You, a peculiar people, a people that are of the same mind and same spirit, a certain people. And you said they're appealed, appealed people. They've been kind of scuffed up in the outside layer that's been taken off. What is that? Outside layer of self-righteousness. A people that has been removed from a peeled people. It's like peeling an onion, you peel off the outside of it. You got self-righteousness. That's one of our problems, isn't it? We sometimes have a problem laying old flesh down. Get rid of it, all that self-righteousness. If you hadn't done one thing in the world, it would accomplish your salvation, ever. So we gotta get rid of that. If we get rid of that, we're a peculiar people. Heavy peels of peeled people. In the book of the Psalms, 107th chapter, Yeah, he gonna clean us up. Get all that big leaf away. Get it done away with. Put us where we standing naked before him. Peel of all our self-righteous clothes. Get rid of it, put it away. In verse one in 107 Psalm, he said, oh, give thanks unto the Lord, for he is good, for his mercy endures forever. Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy. That's where we started. Enemy's been working up on them. It's been working up on the people of God. Everyone that turns to the Lord, the enemy is after him. He's gonna deliver him. Whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy and gathered them out of the lands scattered in the east and from the west and from the north and from the south. They wandered in the wilderness in a solitary way. They found no city to dwell in. Hungry and thirsty, their souls fainted in them. Then they cried. And then they cried unto the Lord in their trouble. And he delivered them out of their distresses. And he led them forth by the right way, that they might go to a city of habitation. I find that interesting, this place where People live, design, design a place of habitation where people can live. Are you living? That's the whole question. Are you living? Gonna carry them to a place of habitation where they can live. We're gonna remove all of those things that are against us. strip us of our own self-righteousness, and turn us about. And when all these things were done, and they cried unto the Lord, he led them forth by the right way, that they might go to a city of habitation. Oh, that men would praise the Lord for his goodness. And for his wonderful works to be the children of men. For he satisfied the longing soul, and filled the hungry soul with goodness. Such as sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, being bound in affliction and iron, because they rebelled against the Lord. But the Lord's going to fix all of that. That's what he's doing, he's peeling them until we cry out. Father, Father, Abba, Father. We cry out when the Lord brings us. And when the Lord gets through peeling us, he said that they're a terrible people. They always have been, he said. Since the very beginning, they've been a terrible people. They're terrible in this respect that the world is fearful of them. They always were. They always have. It's until this day, the whole world is afraid of little old Israel. They're in the news almost every day. A terrible people. Oh, they're a cruel people also, though. You understand they crucified the Lord of Glory. A terrible people. Awful people. A feared people. And it goes on to say they're a people that's meted out. What does that mean? There are people that's gathered up and meted out. Their lines are set. Their boundaries are set in their health. And they're the meted out people. We meted out. We're going to measure them out. This is how many. And this is how few. Have not the potter power over the lump to make one vessel under honor and another under dishonor. It's going to meted out. Going to be a certain people, a peculiar people, a called out people, a people that cried unto the Lord, a certain people. Back in the book of the Psalms again, in the 16th chapter, I've long liked the idea once I understood the ways of the Lord, how that he meets out. He sets the meets and the bounds in verse five of the 17th. And we're on the wrong psalm, the 16th psalm. I might have said 17. The Lord is a portion of mine inheritance. In of my cup thou may attainest my lot. And that's the meted out, my lot. The lines are falling to me in pleasant places. That's the meat now. Yay, I have a good day. Heritage. I will bless the Lord who hath given me counsel. My reigns also instruct me in the night season. I have set the Lord always before me because he is at my right hand and I shall not be moved. Therefore, my heart is glad. My glory rejoices. My flesh also shall rest in hope. He set the bounds for all men. He set the meats in the bounds that's made it out. For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell. Neither wilt thou suffer thine holy one to see corruption. Thou wilt show me the path of life. In our presence is fullness of joy. At thy right hand there are pleasures forevermore. He set our meets and our bounds. Do you know you can't get out of it? You can't get in it either. Because the bounds are set, the lines are drawn. But the lines have fallen unto me in pleasant places. Oh, that's good. We got a nice piece of property here in Zion. Zion Hill in Temple, up on it. A place of habitation. A place where the Lord was pleased to place his name. The place of habitation. Where we live. Where we live. They made it out. I kind of come back around in the Romans 5 and 1. Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace. We have peace with God. Now, people apply that all kind of different ways. We're no longer angry at God. This is the people we are. We're not angry with God anymore. We once were. But he has turned us about, caused us to cry out, Father, Father, Abba, Father. He's caused us to cry out, and we're no longer angry with him. And once again, we can say, would not the judge of all the earth do right? That's our attitude. That's who we are, a peculiar people. We know we will do right. And we're not at odds with him at anything. Once again, go back to the potter, has he not the right? to make one under honor and another under dishonor? Do we argue with those things? This sovereignty of God, would we argue with Him? Not if we got any sense. We won't. Not argue with the Lord. We have peace with Him. Whatever He does is right. So be it. Sometimes we wonder about things. We go through things, we suffer things, we have sickness, we have, all kind of stuff happens to us. But is it not God of mercy that's looking over all these things? Will not everything work to the good of his people? He's Lord over all of it. Some of them said, well, be saved and then let him be Lord. No. It won't work. He's got to be Lord. And we're happy for him to be Lord. Father, Father, our Lord. He's Lord over us. Then it leaves us with a couple of other thoughts. In our praise of the Lord, we would want to please Him. That is the praise of the Lord. Please Him. We won't walk as a peculiar people in the paths of righteousness with our unrighteousness stripped, taken away. In the book of Romans, the 12th chapter, We were talking earlier about this allergy and stuff. Just keep it off the whole time it works. We was talking earlier. It worries me all the time, especially if I hold my head down a little. I go to sit down and reading them a Bible next thing. You know, I got to have a napkin or something. But that's just some more things, you know. We got to look to the Lord. to take care of some of those things that we can't take care of. Romans 12, verse 1, he said, I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercy of God, that you present your bodies the living sacrifice. Now, this is what's going to be given up unto the Father, the sacrifice, the perfect sacrifice. That's what he's going to give back. to the Father. So we're challenged to do no less than the same thing. A living sacrifice wholly acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is the perfect good and acceptable perfect will of God. We're no longer mad at him. It's a perfect will of God. That's the way we see it if we be God's people. For I say through the grace given unto me to every man that is among you not to think more highly doth think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly according as God has dwelt to every man the measure of faith." We need to remember what hole we're dug from, not think more highly. We're just like every other man, except if we be in Christ, we are the body of Christ, the design. Oh, we might say it a different way, the church. That's what the Lord, he laid down his life for the church. He might redeem it. Live under him, present your body, 2 Corinthians. 2 Corinthians 5. And verse 15, and that he died, well, go with verse 14. For the love of Christ constrains us, because we thus judge, that if one died, for all them were all dead, and that he died for all that which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him. which died for them and rose again. So we ought to live for him. We are a peculiar people. We're peculiar in that we're the people that God gave to the son. We're peculiar people in that he's going to deliver that same gift back to the father, that we might all be one, put together, made one. In the book of Romans again, in the 15th chapter, In verse 16, and verse 15, nevertheless, brethren, I have written the more boldly unto you in some sort as putting you in mind because of the grace that is given unto me of God that I should be a minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles. ministering the gospel of God and the offering up of the Gentiles might be acceptable being sanctified by the Holy Ghost. I have therefore whereof I make glory through Jesus Christ in those things which pertain unto God. What do you glory in? What do we glory in? our God and our Father, the Father, Son, and the Holy Ghost. That's what we glory in. But we're given the ministry of reconciliation. We're no longer mad at God. We have peace with Him. And we're given the ministry of reconciliation that we might go out and teach others and tell others how great our God is, that he's called an out of people. And then we're cautioned to seek him while he may be found. It's saying that there's a time when he'll not be found. So once again, we bow. before a holy, righteous God that deals with His people. What people? The people that the Father has given Him. And He's going to do everything necessary to make them all perfect and offer them back up to the Father as a gift back to the Father. And it'll all be made whole. Everything that would beset us would be removed. And you're talking about peace. You're talking about a land that's meted out, one with milk and honey, where we just go out every morning and gather a little manna and eat it and be satisfied and be satisfied. with what we have, because we'll have the Lord, our Father. We'll have a son. We'll be a brother and sister to him. Isn't that something, the family? Let the lines help all to us in pleasant places. So we look forward to the day that all things would be reconciled unto him, not just some. We've given the ministry of reconciliation, but then the day is coming when all things would be reconciled unto him. What a day that'll be. We'll be in the land of the living. It's where we will dwell, and in safety.