Isaiah chapter number 52 in your Bibles this morning, Isaiah chapter 52. As you're turning there, I do want to congratulate some new grandparents in our church, John and Teresa, as their daughter Audrey, Mark and Audrey Dudley. She gave birth to Valerie and a new baby there and I know John and Teresa Johnson, their family, they're excited about that. I was talking with them about it a few moments ago. Can't wait to see the little one when they bring her to church. I know Laina is here. I got to see Laina this morning and you prayed for little Laina and I tell you what, God sure is good, isn't He? And I'm so thankful. Continue to pray for these ladies that are pregnant. God is a giver of life, and I'm thankful for that. Well, you should be in Isaiah chapter number 52, and I'm going to find that. I had a couple of things I wanted to say before we got there. Isaiah chapter number 52. You know, this verse here, the Bible has something to say about our feet. We talk about our feet, don't we? We do. Matter of fact, we'll say to a young person many times, maybe it's our young teenage son or daughter, and maybe they're getting ready to do a job interview, and we'll say to them, now I want you to put your best foot forward. What we mean by that is that we want them to be on their best behavior, present themselves in the very best way. Maybe they're going to meet that young... the parents of the young lady or the young man that they're courting, and we'll say to them now, especially if it's that boy now, listen, don't talk with your mouth full, don't eat too fast, you just need to put your best foot forward when you go over and visit that girl's parents, or whatever it is, and we'll say that. Put your best foot forward. You know what? I believe that God wants us as His people to put our best foot forward. And we're going to see that right here in the very verse that we're going to read in verse number 7. Look what he says in verse number 7. How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace, that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation, that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth. God said it's possible to have beautiful feet. It is. You see, your foot's beautiful when you put your best foot forward. We're going to see that. I tell you one thing I can never be accused of is having beautiful feet. I can't. My wife, she's never commented and said, now honey, your feet are just beautiful. I want you to know that. Maybe smelly. That might be a word, you know, this or that, but not beautiful. But God said that my feet and your feet can be beautiful. You realize your feet, your physical feet, will carry you five times around the world in your lifetime. Yet we hardly think about them until they hurt. You ever notice that? And the truth is our feet are extremely important to the overall welfare of our body. Your foot has 26 bones in it. All of them are vital to your balance and the ability to walk. that our feet are the mirrors of our health and oftentimes signs of arthritis or circulatory or neurological issues will appear in the feet, the extremities first. A foot problem, even a little one, can incapacitate us for long periods of time. And you know what I learned? The number one cause of foot problems when our feet hurt is wearing shoes that don't fit properly. Boy, there's a little tidbit. Tuck that away. You say, but my shoes are so cute, the lady says. I know, but if they hurt your feet, they cease to be cute, right? Not the way that works, but anyway. Our feet not only help us function physically, but they also help us function spiritually. Feet are mentioned over 350 times in the Bible. God has a lot to say about our feet. He talks about it in Psalm 119 verse 185. Our feet shall stand within thy gates. The psalmist says our feet shall stand within thy gates. I'm glad there's coming a day that my feet, because of the salvation in Christ, will stand inside the gates of heaven. Isn't that a blessing? Proverbs 4 verse 26 says we're to ponder the path of our feet. Proverbs 1 verse 15 reminds all of us. A young person, an older person alike, refrain thy foot from the path of evil. You know what he's saying? You'll never walk down the path of sin and evil and destruction if you will refrain your foot from going down that path to start with. Psalm 119 verse 105 says, Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, a light unto my path. Aren't you glad the Bible can guide us in life? Psalm 40 verse number 2, the psalmist said that he set my feet upon a rock. I'm sure grateful for the day that God set my feet upon a rock. I like what the preacher said one time. He said, I may have trembled on the rock, but the rocks never trembled under me. Isn't that a blessing? But God's talking about our best foot. And God says that the best foot, when I put that best foot forward, it's because of what it enables me to go, or where it enables me to go, and what it enables me to do. You see, they're beautiful when we put our best foot forward and we share God's message to those who desperately need it. I believe what God is saying to us today, Christian, is I want you to put your best foot forward. Notice, if you would, in verse 7, how beautiful are the feet of Him that bringeth good tidings. I want to tell you that you're putting your best foot forward when you understand that there is a message that we're to share. There's a message we're to share. And notice, when we come to this passage, that every portion of Scripture has a primary interpretation. And we're going to make a spiritual application. God had something to say to Israel then, and then He's going to have something to say to you and I this morning right here in 2022 because all of the Bible is relevant to our lives. It may not all be written to me, but it's all written for me for my benefit. We're going to understand that. So when you read Isaiah, the prophecy of Isaiah, you're going to find that up to this point, Not everything that Isaiah has prophesied would be considered good things. Matter of fact, he's talked about Israel's sin. He's talked about her rebellion as the people of God. He's warned them of God's wrath, God's judgment upon them as His people. He's prophesied the coming invasion by Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonian armies that are going to surround Jerusalem. They're going to take Israel captive and relocate them in the land of Babylon. They're going to destroy the beloved city of Jerusalem. It will lay in ruins. Its walls and gates will be burnt with fire. The temple will be destroyed and all of this, and all because of her sins are going to be carried away. But when you come to chapter 52, God is now talking about good news. He talks about how the chastening is not going to last forever. And in this verse, Isaiah is looking at a future day when God's messengers would traverse the mountains surrounding Jerusalem Their feet having traveled many hundreds of miles from Babylon, and they're going to descend into that city, and they're going to carry a message of hope and deliverance. They're actually preaching to a city, prophetically, that's been laid waste. And they're bringing a message of good news and hope. The good news that Babylon's been defeated. The captivity is now over. God's people are going to return. The city will be rebuilt. The temple will be rebuilt. The streets will again be filled with rejoicing of God's people. Look down at verse number 9. He said, "...break forth into joy." He's talking to the city. He said, "...break forth into joy. Sing together, ye waste places of Jerusalem. For the Lord hath comforted His people, He hath redeemed Jerusalem." He's saying, listen, there are good days ahead. That's what He's saying. And these messengers would bring the message of hope and deliverance that God has brought to His people to the city of Jerusalem and the nation of Israel. And the people would say, Oh, your feet are so beautiful because of the message of hope and deliverance that you're carrying to us. That is what God had to say to Israel then. That is the primary interpretation of the passage. However, there is a divinely inspired application. And we're going to see that in Romans chapter 10. Because the Holy Spirit is going to take this verse, and He's going to bring it over into the New Testament, and just like those messengers could have beautiful feet in that day, God's saying, My people can have beautiful feet in their day. So let's go over to Romans chapter 10. Could we do that? Romans chapter number 10, alright? And you're going to find in Romans chapter number 10 that this very verse is going to be quoted, and it's going to have to do with another message, a blessed message, and it's going to talk about another group of people that have beautiful feet. And those feet can be yours and mine as we put our best foot forward and share the message that God has given to us. Look if you would, verse number 13. He said, For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Do you know that is the most succinct and simple verse on how to be saved in the New Testament other than John 3.16? I'm glad for that verse because there was a day in my life I called on the name of the Lord and I was saved. And if you've never called on the name of the Lord, today is a wonderful day to do that. And God wants to save you. And God wants to save anybody that will believe on His Son and call on Him and trust Him as His Savior. Isn't that a wonderful truth today? Aren't you glad people can be saved? That's a blessing. But notice that people can't call on somebody if they've never believed in him. Look at verse 14. How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? Here's what he's saying. You can't call on somebody you never believed in. Look at verse 14 again. And how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? Now watch the logic. You can't call on somebody you've not believed on, and you can't believe on somebody you never heard about. And notice he goes on and said, How shall they hear without a preacher? So follow the logic. How can you call on somebody, call on the Lord if you've never believed on the Lord, and how can you believe on the Lord if you've never heard about the Lord, and how can you hear about the Lord unless some preacher tells you about the Lord? And then he goes one step further. Look at verse 15. And how shall they preach except they be sent? Follow the logic. You can't call on someone you haven't believed on. You can't believe on someone you haven't heard about. You can't hear about someone unless somebody has told you about it, except somebody is a preacher, and you can't hear from that preacher. That preacher can't go unless someone sends them. Did you see that? And then look at what he says after that, "...as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things." Do you know that brother Patrick is going to go somewhere that probably I'll never get to go. He's going to preach, and all of these missionaries will probably preach to people I'll never get to see. They'll do that. They're going to have beautiful feet to a group of people that's going to hear a message of salvation that they're going to bring to them. Isn't that a blessing? They're going to put their best foot forward and carry that message, the message of the Gospel, to people, men, women, boys and girls, in the area, the place that God has called them to, so that they can hear and believe and call. and be saved. You follow that? You with me? Alright. But God said their feet isn't just beautiful, but My feet are beautiful. It's not just the one that's going and telling whose feet are beautiful. God said it's the one who's sending them. Did you catch that? Whose feet are beautiful. You see, they put their best foot forward in going. We put our best foot forward in sending. Isn't that powerful? You see, we in this day of grace have an even greater message than Israel had of old. Theirs was about a physical deliverance. Ours is about a spiritual deliverance. Theirs impacted people in time. Our message impacts people for eternity. You see, they had a message about a city. We got a message about a Savior. That Satan's been conquered. That sin has been paid. That the death and hell and the grave have been defeated. I'm glad that death can never claim me. That the grave can never hold me captive. Listen, judgment is not in my future because I have been saved. Thank God. Men and women and boys and girls can be saved. Isn't that a blessing? It's good. It's the good news. that God's salvation in Jesus Christ, the gospel of the grace of God. If I and my family were traveling down a road at night and the bridge was out up ahead and I didn't know it, do you realize it would be so easy to just drive down unbeknownst to us and go right over that bridge and perish at the bottom of that ravine? That would be a terrible thing. But what if somebody ahead of me had noticed the bridge was out, And they saw the headlights of my car, and they began running up the road, waving their arms, flagging me down. And I stop, and they say, wait a minute, don't go down that road. The bridge is out. You're going to crash. You're going to perish if you do that. You know what I would say? Oh, thank you, thank you for saving my family and us from such a tragedy. Oh, you have beautiful feet. Can I tell you there's men, women, boys and girls around our world that are careening headlong into a place called hell. They're going into a place of eternity without God. And friend, you have the message and I have the message and we need to have beautiful feet. We need to put our best foot forward and warn them and tell them of Jesus who's mighty to save. Wouldn't you agree with that? Can I tell you our message is a universal message? It's universal. Can I tell you the same good news in America is the same good news in Cambodia or India or Africa or Southeast Asia or wherever. I think Cambodia and Southeast Asia is the same, but anyway. Wherever that's at, it's still the good news. And they need to hear it. Yeah, I'm glad the good news isn't just for a few. Aren't you? I get so tired of those that would claim and have us believe that Jesus died for just a few, that want to limit grace, that want to limit the blood of Christ, that want to limit the message of salvation to a select few that God has chosen, but the rest you have to go to hell and there's nothing you can do about it. What kind of love is that? What kind of God is that? that would choose for people to suffer for all eternity. Can I tell you, God will never choose for anybody to suffer for all... He would have all men to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth. The Bible said, God so loved the world. That means everybody. That means everybody. Friend, God hasn't chosen who's going to be saved and who's going to be lost. No, that's our choice. God's will, God's desire is for everybody to be saved. Anybody that wants to be saved can be saved. I'm glad His blood's not limited. I'm glad His saving grace isn't limited. Well, what if I wasn't one of the elect? What if you weren't? Thank God. He said, whosoever will, let him come. Can I tell you, you just can't take the gospel to the wrong person. I love what that great North Carolina preacher Vance Habener said. He said, we do not have a secret to be hidden. We've got a story to be heralded. Isn't that a blessing? It's universal. It's also urgent. Say not ye there yet four months, and then come with harvest. Behold, I say unto you, lift up your eyes, and look on to the fields, for they are white already to harvest. The disciples might have been talking about the wheat harvest. They might have looked at the little wheat coming up out of the ground, or maybe them planting in the ground saying, well listen, about four months from now it's going to be grown, and it'll be ready to be harvested, and it'll be wonderful. Jesus was looking at some people come as some Samaritans, some outcasts. Aren't you glad Jesus loves outcasts? They were some outcasts of society that were coming out of the cities of Samaria because of the witness of an adulterous woman at a well that had met Him. And they said, come see a man. She didn't know the Romans wrote. She didn't have a whole lot of verses memorized. She had never taken a soul-winning class. You don't have to do all that to tell somebody about Jesus. You just have to tell them what He's done for you. She said, comes to you a man that told me all things that everybody... It is not this the Christ. He's here. This is Him. And they started coming out of the city. And He said, fellows, there's the harvest. Could I tell you, church, lift up your eyes and look outside the doors of this building. There's cars going up and down the highway. There's people going in and out of places of business. There's neighbors that slept while you got up to come to church today. Say not yet, there are four months and then come at the harvest. The fields are white already to harvest, the Lord says. Can I tell you, as human beings we have a terminal disease. It's called mortality. Everybody has it. And the current death rate is 100%. That means everybody in this room is one day going to die. We're going to spend eternity somewhere. You say, well preacher, I've already settled that. Praise the Lord for that. If you haven't, I want to encourage you to. But can I tell you just as you and I as believers are not promised another day, neither is your neighbor. Neither is your co-worker. Neither is your friend. Neither is the lady that will take your order. Or the banker, the teller that will handle your money. Matter of fact, worldwide, three people die every second. Do you know you could just snap your fingers, because it takes about a second to snap your fingers, and every time you snap them, you could just try this, every three seconds, three people went out into eternity. Three. Matter of fact, there will be 11,000 in the hour that we have service that will go out into eternity. Before this day is out, 250,000 people in our world will have died, and they're either going to go to heaven or they're going to go to hell. That's why Jesus said, I must work the works of Him that sent me. While it is day, the night cometh when no man can work. You see, there's only a short interval between when the harvest is ripe and when it's rotten. It is. And it's what? It's working time. Night's coming when we can't work. You say, Prince, you don't realize how bad it is. I do. I get as frustrated as you do about how bad it is. I can sit around and I can lament and talk about how bad it is or I can be busy about the Lord's business. We can get all upset. We can get all upset. I was fussing last night about it. My wife's watching a Christmas movie. I know y'all are shocked. I didn't mean to stun you like that. I noticed my son, I was looking over my notes for this morning, my son, he'd been battling a kidney stone and he went in the other room and I mean it didn't take 30 seconds for the ball game to go off and I heard Christmas chimes in the background. I knew then that Hallmark was on my TV. Anybody know what I'm talking about, you fellas? It'll be that way for a while. And I'm going to love every second of it, won't I, honey? Every second, I'll love it. I will love it. Because I love you. There we go. I've done good. Alright, now, let's get back to preaching, alright? Let's get back to preaching. There was an advertisement. I couldn't believe it. I couldn't believe it. About an alternative lifestyle. Right there on my TV. I thought, there's children watching this. Their minds and their hearts right now are being defiled. Oh, I was angry. But you know what? I can get angry and I can get upset. And by the way, there's some things we ought to get angry about. But it ought not stop us from realizing there's a job to do that we've got to put our best foot forward, church. We've got to put our best foot forward. You say, what if it don't get any better? You put your best foot forward. Because there's a message to tell. There are people who will believe. There's those who will be saved. And we'll be faithful. There's a message to share. There's a mission to fulfill. Every Sunday morning, Sunday night, and Wednesday night, we're reminded of our mission as a church, as individual Christians. We see it so often, you've seen it already and you don't even notice it. You've read it so many times, it's an afterthought. Yet it encapsulates the very mission of why we exist as a church. It's right here on the wall. Reaching people with the gospel across the street and around the world. That's why I exist. That's why you exist. That's what we're here for. Everything else is a sideline activity. I'm to be involved in ensuring that people around me and around the world hear the saving message of Jesus Christ. Across the street, that's our responsibility. Around the world, that's still my responsibility, but I can't go around the world. I can go across the street, but I can't go around the world. I can't go to every country and every people group and learn every language. I can't do that. But God's going to put people across my path, through my lifetime as a Christian, through our local church. that they can go. And so God enables me to go as I give to this thing called world evangelism on a regular basis as I fulfill my promise to the Lord. I'm having beautiful feet. I'm putting my best foot forward. I'm sending them around the world. That's what we're doing. God hasn't given us a come here religion. He's given us a go tell salvation. That's what a missionary does. Every Christian is a missionary in some sense of fashion. Now we may not be called of God as a missionary preacher that's going to go plant churches, but we have a mission that's given to us by the Lord to go into all the world, preach the gospel to every creature. And God said, go. Do you know that the first two letters in the name of God is G-O? Go. The first two letters in the word gospel. G-O. Go. First two letters in our text. Good news. That phrase. Good news is go. Not a come here religion to go tell salvation. Our mission is to go. We put our best foot forward in our communities, on the job, our school, our friends, our family. We share the glad tidings of good things. We do. And where we can't go, we give so that others can go. There's not one tribe Nor one tongue, nor one people group, nor one nation that does not need to hear the missionary message of salvation in Jesus Christ. Church, we have a mission to fulfill. Christian, you have a mission to fulfill. You may decide that you're not going to involve yourself in the mission, but that doesn't change the mission. It just means you're AWOL. That's what it means. That you just chose to be AWOL. that you're not going to join yourself in the mission. That's all it simply means. And then number three, lastly, there's a method to employ. You know, I was thinking about this. I mentioned this to Brother Cole this morning. I think I called his name out this morning when I was preaching. Not called him down, just called out his name. He wasn't acting up or anything. He's bigger than I am. If you all noticed that, okay, he would hurt me. That would be bad. Alright, not good? Not good? There's many methods that God could have used. He could have commissioned the angels. I promise you, if He had said to the angels, go share my message of my Son to the world, it would have already been done. Boom. Finished. Completed. Do you realize of the heavenly angels, there's never a mission given to them by God that they don't completely, instantaneously fulfill? Not one. Not one. Do you know that He could have encoded it in the stars? He could have. He could have put it up in the stars. He could have written it on the sky, Jesus saves. He could. But He didn't do that. No, His mission and His method involved feet. It did. Somebody taking a message from one place to another, from one person to another person. God chose to use saved people, redeemed people, His people, to share the message with somebody else. There's nothing like experience. There's nothing like it. What do I mean by that? I can say to Brother Cole, Brother Cole, there's a coffee shop down the road there and I hear they've got good coffee. That's not going to really impress you. I might go by there. But if I go up and say, Brother Cole, I'm just telling you I had the best cup of coffee in my life. You have got to go down here and get this cup of coffee. I'm telling you, you don't want to wait. I mean, next cup of coffee you have, you have to have it. You know what? That's going to motivate him to get that cup of coffee. You know why? Because he knows I've already tasted of it, that I think it's good, and so forth. He believes what I say. So therefore, if I say it was good, it must be good, and he's going to go down there and get that cup of coffee. You see, when I can go tell somebody how good my Savior is, I can tell them what He's done for me. I can share with them how He's changed me. I can share with them what He's continuing to do in me. Because saving me was just the beginning. It's all the other stuff He's done. What has God done for you lately? Who have you shared it with? You see, every witness every day may not be... Now friend, listen, you're about ready to go to hell. It may not be that. It may be as simple as, I want to tell you, we were in a situation with our family and we were praying and God answered a prayer. I'm telling you, I am so thankful to the Lord. Segue to be able to tell them what else God's done for me. See, God blesses me today so I can tell somebody else about what God's done for me and open the door for what He can do for them. Does that make sense? Because God's doing stuff for us right now, isn't He? I believe in door-to-door soul winning. I do. I believe in that. I believe in it. I still believe in it. You ask me, how many people have you won to the Lord door-to-door? Not very many. But I have. Not very many, but I have. I do it because that's what God's commanded us to do. Okay? But there's many, many more that have been won. Now we ought to be faithful in that, but see, help us to understand that it's not just an hour a week knocking on the door. They went everywhere, the Bible said, preaching and teaching Jesus Christ. It was a lifestyle. It was. You talk about the Lord like you talk about the ballgame. Now, understand, or the weather. We talk about the weather, we talk about ballgames. What I'm saying is if He's an integral part of who I am, He's going to come out in my conversation. He's going to come out in my life. You see what I'm saying? And I share what He's done for me and it opens the door for me to share what He can do for them. It does. I just want to ask you if you've been putting your best foot forward. When was the last time you shared the Lord with somebody else? Or shared what He's done in your life with somebody else? Or just invited somebody to church? Or left a gospel track on a table? I'm just asking. The Bible says our feet are to be shod with preparation of the gospel of peace. Every day of our lives, we ought to be putting our best foot forward for Him. Wouldn't you agree with that? I'm glad my granddaddy put his best foot forward in my life, preached the gospel, I was saved. Who put their best foot forward in your life? You know, we need care outreach workers, teachers, children's church workers, Calvary Club workers, First Impressions team, greeters, ushers, RU workers, jail ministry, nursing homes, so many ways that we can impact our community. That's putting our best foot forward in going. But it doesn't stop there. If I'm going to fulfill what God's called me to do as a Christian, then I need to put my best foot forward in giving. I do. Giving to this matter of world missions so that these men can go where I can't go. See, they can't call on whom they've not believed and whom they've not heard because there hasn't been a preacher because nobody sent them. You see the logic. God's promised to meet my needs, hasn't He? He's promised to meet your needs as we give to the work of world evangelism. Nobody's ever outgiven God. I know you say, preacher, the economy's bad. Haven't you listened to the news? Yes. But you know, I've also read my Bible that says that God has promised to supply all my need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. God just says, I do what I'm supposed to do, He's going to take care of me because He's faithful. That's what He's saying. It's living by faith. Listen, if you're a missionary, you live by faith. But wait a minute, every Christian should live by faith, shouldn't they? We should. I want to tell you about a man who had beautiful feet, who put his best foot forward. His name was A.W. Milne. He visited a part of New Guinea that was inhabited by cannibals. I don't know how many people are signing up to go to cannibal infested islands. I don't know many people, but A.W. Milne did. He trusted God for his safety and he waded ashore into the spiritual darkness of that part of the world and began to share the message of the gospel, the story of Jesus. And one by one, these fearsome cannibals became humble servants and followers of the Lord. They were saved. Finally, he ended his ministry and they buried him on the very island that he went to. His loving converts placed a marker over his grave, and here was the inscription. It was amazing. It said, Here lie the remains of A.W. Milne. When he came to us, there was no light. When he died, there was no darkness. Church, could I just say we need to lift up our eyes and look. We need to lift up our heart and pray. We need to lift up our hands and give. And we need to put our best foot forward and lift up our feet and go. Amen. Because God, every day of our lives, wants us to put our best foot forward. Let's pray together. Father, I thank You for the joy of being able to