and go from there. Oh Father, we thank you so much that you sent your son to redeem a lost human into yourself. We thank you that we have a part in that as well. Lord, I pray even this morning, you'd fill our hearts with the truths of the gospel, that our hearts would be filled full and that as we leave, we'd be full of joy, full of peace, grateful for all that you have done and grateful to be able to participate in what you are doing. In the name of your son, amen. Now, yeah, Pastor Derek, he just said, come talk about the gospel. Well, it's a common knowledge among preachers. If you want your people to feel guilty about something, you can talk about evangelism or prayer. Okay, so those are your big two. You want to stir up feelings of guilt, right, where people feel most poignantly how far we fall short. Evangelism and prayer are our top two. It's not difficult to drop feelings of guilt in the heart of the church for our failure to do these things, our failure, right, mine included. Indeed, as a preacher, there can be a temptation to do that. You can feel, oh, well, my church doesn't pray enough. I should show them how much they fail at it and where they fall short, or are evangelisms weak? Let's spend some time reminding ourselves of that fact, how weak we are. And as Christians, we could do this to ourselves just as easily, right? It's not just the preachers doing it to the church, but it can be Christians doing this to ourselves. We see these areas of weakness in our hearts and feel perhaps if we can stir up feelings of guilt, that will help lead us to the path to improvement. However, we know feelings of guilt, that's not the goal, but to actually grow in these areas. Unfortunately, there can be the temptation to be content with just feeling bad about something. just to wallow in self-pity and comfort our consciences by how bad we feel about it. We can congratulate ourselves. Wow, I really cried a lot. I really was mourning how bad I am at praying, how bad, and then stop there without actually getting to the point of growing in these two important areas of our lives. We can say to ourselves, well, at least I'm not like that other Christian in that pew over there who doesn't even realize how far he falls short, right? Thank you, God, for not making me like that Pharisee. He was just as wicked as me, but doesn't know it. However, if our goal is to actually grow in these areas, instead of just feeling bad about them, the path to this is surprisingly not found in looking in, reminding ourselves about how bad we are, but looking out, looking to Christ. Of course there's a place for being aware of our shortcomings. We don't want to go too far. We think of, for example, when Paul He's addressing division in the church. He first tells them, he shames them. He says there should not be division, it should not be this way. He does, he brings up a little shame, but he does not stop there. He doesn't leave them in their feelings of guilt. After bringing them low and humble, ready to change, he stirs their affections by giving a portrait of the gospel of Christ. He reminds them of the wisdom of power of the gospel in 1 Corinthians chapter two. He does not continue to berate them throughout the end of the chapter, but he gives them the most beautiful picture of love in the most famous passages of scripture on love, 1 Corinthians 13. He doesn't just say, well, stop being divided. Why are you so terrible, always following after Apollos or Cephas? He says, no, look to Christ. Consider the love of Christ. Consider the resurrection, 1 Corinthians 15. In every year of the Christian life, it's like this. Instead of just wallowing in our guilt, we need to look to the solution, which again, is pointing our eyes towards Christ, pointing our eyes to the salvation that he has brought about. It's the same for prayer and evangelism. Our shortcomings in prayer and evangelism is often not caused by failure to feel guilty enough about this area, rather it's a failure to see the beauty and the privilege that we have to partake in these two things. We fail to see the beauty and privilege of prayer And so we do not avail ourselves of the wonderful opportunity we have to come before the throne of grace. We fail to see the beauty and privilege of proclaiming the gospel. And so our guilt leaves us low, discouraged, inwardly focused, thinking of our own failure rather than thinking of Christ. And low, discouraged, inwardly focused, is that a right posture for, a helpful posture for being able to proclaim the gospel with confidence and boldness? It's worth asking ourselves, periodically, when we think of proclaiming the gospel, is it a burden or a privilege? If we lose this battle here, and how we even think about what proclaiming the gospel is, is it a burden or a privilege? If we lose this battle here, we might as well surrender to the whole war, okay? And my hope is today, as we consider the gospel, and the glorious gospel, and the beauty that there is in being able to participate in this great work, our hearts will be moved to desire to talk about Christ, our affection so captured that we can hardly keep silent. And that not just our hearts would be fulfilled today, although I hope that would be true, that as we talk about the gospel today, our hearts would be full of the beauty and the privilege that there is in proclaiming the gospel, but not just for today, but in the future too. When we find ourselves back at that familiar place of dreading an evangelistic encounter or a conversation with a coworker, Instead of pointing ourselves to our own guilt of knowing by instinct, when we found ourselves in this feeling of falling short, to by instinct preach the gospel to our own hearts. Fill ourselves back up so we're going out with boldness rather than out of guilt. So for this I want to turn to Isaiah chapter 62. Turn with me, Isaiah chapter 62. And you may ask, why Isaiah? I thought gospel, we would think New Testament. Well, when the apostles thought of the gospel, they thought of Isaiah, right? When they thought of the gospel and proclaiming the gospel, they thought of Isaiah. Some of these passages we're familiar with too. Isaiah chapter 40, verse 9. Get yourself up on a high mountain, O Zion, bearer of good news. Raise up your voice powerfully, O Jerusalem. bearer of good news, right? Gospel proclaimer. Raise it up, do not fear, say to the cities of Zion, behold, your God. Isaiah chapter 52, verse seven. How beautiful are the feet of him who brings what? Good news. We know these passages. Paul quotes them. When he thinks about the gospel, when the apostles think about the gospel, they're thinking about Isaiah. And so it's not inappropriate for us today, too, to look back at Isaiah and how he talks about the gospel and proclaiming the gospel. Jesus himself, he enters the synagogue in Nazareth, Luke chapter four. What does he read from? Isaiah, Isaiah chapter 61, verse one through three. Let me read it before we get into our chapter 62. Jesus, he enters the synagogue, he reads from Isaiah chapter 61. I'll be reading from 61, not from Luke, but Isaiah 61, verse one through three. The spirit of Lord Yahweh is upon me because Yahweh has anointed me to bring good news to the afflicted. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim release to captives, freedom to prisoners, to proclaim the favorable year of Yahweh and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, to grant those who mourn in Zion, giving them a headdress instead of ashes, oil of rejoicing instead of mourning, the mantle of praise instead of a spirit of fainting, so they will be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of Yahweh, that he may show forth his beautiful glory. Jesus defines for us here the nature of his own gospel proclamation. When he's proclaiming the gospel, when he's proclaiming the kingdom, this is what he's thinking about, Isaiah chapter 61. And so we see Isaiah is full of the gospel. And consequently, the gospel cannot be fully understood without Isaiah. Why then, particularly Isaiah chapter 62? Well, just as we read Isaiah 61, Isaiah 62 is kind of the response to that. In light of all the salvation that God will bring about through his Messiah, what should we then do? What is a proper response to the gospel? What do I mean by fitting response? Well, of course, included in that is our own response. How are we to respond to the work that Yahweh will do in the future through the Messiah? But strikingly, it's not just a fitting response as in our own fitting response, it's also the Lord God's fitting response. And first and foremost, we will see God's own response to his own work in the gospel. And so, as an outline, verse one through five, Isaiah 62, one through five, the Lord's initiative in salvation, God's intervention by his word. Verse six through nine, the Lord's initiative in intercession, prayer fueled by the promise. And verses 10 through 12, the Lord's initiative in proclamation, heralding fueled by hearing. It's the Lord's initiative. It's his own work. that he is taking on to intervene. Let's start in verses one through five. The Lord's initiative in salvation, God's intervention by his word. Read it with me, Isaiah chapter 62, verse one through five. For Zion's sake, I will not keep silent. And for Jerusalem's sake, I will not keep quiet. Until her righteousness goes forth like brightness and her salvation like a torch that is burning. The nations will see your righteousness, and all kings your glory, and you will be called by a new name, which the mouth of Yahweh will designate. You will be a crown of glory in the hand of Yahweh, and a turban of royalty in the hand of your God. It will no longer be said to you, forsaken, nor to your land will any longer be said, desolate, but you will be called, my delight is in her. and your land married. For Yahweh takes pleasure in you, and to him your land will be married. And as a young man marries a virgin, so your sons will marry you. And as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so your God will rejoice over you. This whole passage about how Yahweh's light, the Lord's light, makes us glorious. Again, where are we in the context of the book of Isaiah here? Well, we know that God had chosen Israel to be his instrument, to bring salvation to the rest of the world. They would be a kingdom of priests, a light to the nations. Kingdom of priests, we think of Exodus chapter 19, verse six. When God first chose Israel, brought them out of Egypt, he said, you will be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. What is that? Well, just as a priest, a priest leads the people to worship God. We think of the priests inside of Israel, they lead the people to worship God. Well, what then would be a kingdom of priests? It's not just leading individual people to worship God, it'd be leading all the nations. That Israel's role would be to lead all the nations to worship God. That's the picture we see in Exodus chapter 19. But another way to describe the same thing is a light to the nations, and we're probably familiar with that picture, but we see that idea being a light to the nations, especially in Isaiah. Isaiah chapter 42, verse six to seven, writes, and I will give you as a covenant to the people, as a light to the nations, to open blind eyes, to bring out prisoners from the dungeon, and those who inhabit darkness from the prison. The nations walking in darkness, not knowing Christ, not knowing the salvation that he brings. And Israel's role was to bring the nations to God, to the light of his salvation. However, we know Israel was unable to fulfill this role because of her sin. She was supposed to bring light to the nations and open blind eyes, but she herself was blind, blinded by her own sin. But God, amen? The story does not stop there, but God does not live Israel through her own fate. Isaiah goes on to describe how a messiah would be born, named Emmanuel, Isaiah 7, verse 14, who would rule over the throne of David. He would establish his kingdom, rule forever, not just over Israel, but all mankind. He would bring about this kingdom by the substitutionary atoning sacrifice on the cross, Isaiah chapter 53. I'll read just one part, Isaiah 53, verse four through six. Surely our griefs he himself bore, and our sorrows he carried. Yet we ourselves esteemed him stricken, smitten of God and afflicted. but he was pierced through for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities. The chasing of our peace fell upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. All of us, like sheep, have gone astray. Each of us has turned to his own way, but Yahweh has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on him. We, of course, know the suffering servant as Jesus. It is through his work that the entire world would be made over again, a new creation restored to how it always ought to be. And in response to this, we see chapter 62. It is in response to this that the Lord responds in chapter 62, verse one, for Zion's sake, I will not keep silent. For Jerusalem's sake, I will not keep quiet. this plan of salvation that God has to make over the world again. God cannot keep silent about it, he cannot keep still. Again, the primary response that we see here in chapter 62 is not our own response, it's the Lord's, that he will stop at nothing to bring about his plan of salvation. He says, I will not keep silent. It's the idea of no longer being inactive, of standing and watching. It's as if he says, I can't keep silent any longer. I have to do something. I have to bring about this great salvation that I've just described throughout the whole book of Isaiah. We get a better picture of what this means in chapter 42, verse 14 through 16. Isaiah 42, verse 14 to 16, sorry for jumping around, but I think it helps us get a picture of what does it mean for God to not keep silent. He says a very similar phrase in chapter 42, verse 14. He says, I have kept silent for a long time. I have kept still and restrained myself. But now, like a woman in labor, I will groan. I will grasp and pant. I will lay waste the mountains and hills. I will dry up all their vegetation. I will make the rivers into coastlands and dry up the pools of waters. I will lead the blind by a way they do not know. In past, they do not know I will guide them. I will make darkness into light before them and rugged places into plains. These are things I will do, and I will not forsake them. We will not stay silent forever. Now, we probably can perhaps understand this picture. Sometimes we have the same feeling as well. How often have we waited for the Lord's deliverance? And we cry out, will you stay silent forever? But the good news of God's kingdom is that he will bring this about. He will not stay silent. For Jerusalem's sake, he cannot keep quiet. he will once again intervene. And the salvation that he started by sending his son the first time, he will finish by sending him a second time. Praise God that our salvation does not rest in our own efforts, but in God who has taken full responsibility for his plan into his own hands. I hope this gives us hope and confidence That when we're thinking about preaching the gospel, the one who cares the most about his own plan of salvation is God himself. It does not rely on the efforts or initiative of man. I hope you can see the immediate application when we continue to talk about prayer and proclamation at the end of the chapter. Everything starts with the initiative of God. This work, it doesn't rest on us, and it never has. From start to finish, this is a work of God. From the start, it was initiated by him. and in the end, it will be finished by him. He will not keep silent. Derek Kidner, summarizing verses one through five writes, here the stress is on God's side, the energy of his will, in verse one, the height and width of his ambition for her, the pride he takes in perfecting her, his joy in bringing home the outcast, verse four, and the central mystery that this is not philanthropy, but ardent love. Ardent love, what does he say in in verse four, that Yahweh takes pleasure in you. It's for your sake. That's how verse one starts as well. For Zion's sake, I will not keep silent. It's his love that God loves so much that he will not keep silent. He will bring about his plan of salvation. What then will happen when the Lord speaks, when he does not stay silent? It is a total transformation. And that's what we see to the end of verse four. Starting halfway through verse one, it says, Until her righteousness goes forth like brightness, her salvation like a torch that is burning, the nations will see your righteousness, all kings your glory, and you will be called by a new name, which the mouth of Yahweh will designate. You will be a crown of glory in the hand of Yahweh, and a turban of royalty in the hand of your God. It will no longer be said to you forsaken, nor to your land will no longer be said desolate, but you will be called, my delight is in her, in your land married, for Yahweh takes pleasure in you. And to him, your land will be merry. There's a transformation. Gay salvation means transformation. This is the picture we see. No longer wicked, but righteous. No longer stuck in darkness, but glorious. Particularly Isaiah here talks about this new name. You will be called by a new name. What's this idea of renaming? Well, we know in the scriptures, one's name, it corresponds to their identity. Just like Jacob received a new name, he was no longer called Jacob, the supplanter, but what? Israel. He's given a new name to reflect his new identity. This name, it describes who you are, but it's also transformational. Who is the one naming Zion here? you will be called a new name which the mouth of Yahweh will designate. It's transformation. He says it, and you become like that. And as much as it's a name given by the Lord, it is his word, right? Again, what would God do to bring about his plan of salvation? He will not keep silent. He will speak. And the first word that he speaks here is a new name put over his people. It's a new name. Man's word, we describe what it is. So for example, if I were to say tomorrow it's going to rain, well I might be right, I might be wrong, but I say, I'm trying to guess what's going to happen. For God, when he speaks, it happens. Not just because he knows it will happen, but when he speaks, that word makes it happen. He spoke and all the world came to be. By his word, it happened. And so when God gives us a new name here, when it says you will be called by a new name, This name, it's transforming. What is the name that he speaks here in verse two? Well, we see it in verse three, and particularly verse four. Look with me in verse four. It will no longer be said to you forsaken, nor to your land will it be any longer be said desolate. But what will you be called? You will be called my delight is in her, and your land married. Isaiah 55.11 tells us how this word is effective. We know this passage well. He speaks and it happens. His word does not return void. And so when he calls us no longer forsaken, no longer desolate, but my delight is in her married. He speaks and it happens. This word married here. if you're familiar with Pilgrim's Progress, is the word Beulah, Beulah Land, the married land. I know Pastor Derek loves Pilgrim's Progress. When I was here in 2009, 2010, I remember Jacob, he would always take me and watch the Pilgrim's, he's like, we gotta watch the Pilgrim's Progress again, it's favorite movie. Beulah Land, it's the land that is married. It's the land that has been redeemed and no longer forsaken of God, but brought back into covenant relationship with him. It's the place of total reconciliation of relationship, the consummation of joy and delight between God and man, no longer forsaken, for the covenant has been restored. What happens when the Lord delights in his people? He transforms Zion into something beautiful. He doesn't love her because she is by nature or inherently delightful, but he sets his love on someone who is not delightful so that she becomes delightful and beautiful even. This picture informs the end of verse one as well. When we see that her righteousness goes forth like brightness, and her salvation like a torch that is burning, where does this righteousness come from? This righteousness that comes forth when the nations look at Zion and see her righteousness, where does this righteousness come from? I think this is pretty clear to us as Christians. We know the famous passages from Isaiah as well that deal with this issue. Isaiah 64.6, all our righteous deeds are like Filthy rags. Is this the righteousness of Zion that's gonna go forth? Of course not. Something has happened to transform these filthy rags into wedding garments. Into something beautiful that all the nations would see their righteousness and not be pointed to Israel, but rather be pointed to their God. If we look back to the end of chapter 61, we see what happens here exactly. Chapter 61, verse 10. It's the city of Zion speaking, singing, really. Chapter 61, verse 10, Zion sings, I will rejoice greatly in Yahweh. My soul will rejoice in my God, for he has clothed me with garments of salvation. He has wrapped me with a robe of righteousness. As a bridegroom decks himself with a headdress, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. It's wrapping self, an exterior, not righteousness found in ourselves, but as if the Lord took the righteousness of his son and put it over us, clothed in his righteousness, adorned by not our own deeds, but something from outside of us to cover our sin. We know the line, dressed in his righteousness alone, faultless to stand before the throne. And so when we see her righteousness going forth like brightness, it's because a transformation has happened. God has spoken, and he will speak. And he will make Zion into this perfect righteousness. The same thing with glory. Verse two, the nations will see your righteousness, and all kings your glory. Where does this glory and light come from? Go back to chapter 60. Chapter 60 is all about this, that Zion has become bright. Zion has become full of light, but it's not her own light. It's the light of the Lord. Read chapter 60 verse one through three with me. Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of Yahweh has risen upon you. Verse two, for behold, darkness will cover the earth, and dense gloom the peoples, but Yahweh will rise upon you, and his glory will appear upon you. Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising. It's kind of striking when you read this a little bit slow. When you read fast, perhaps you miss it. But read this. Arise, shine, for your light has come. It's our light. Somehow the people of God have become bright, have become glorious. But look at the next line. Arise, shine, for your light has come and the glory of Yahweh. has risen, risen like the sun upon you. Whose light are we shining with here? It's pretty obvious, it's the light of the Lord. It's his glory. We know this doctrine is the doctrine of glorification. Not that we are inherently glorious, but that by being in him, we become glorious. This is not different from what Paul talks about in Romans chapter eight. Whom he justified, he will also glorify. Shining, not with our own glory, of course, praise God for that, but the glory of the Lord. The theme in chapter 60, he wrestles with it throughout the rest of the chapter, but for the sake of time, skipping to verse 19, emphasizing this point once again. It's not our own light, but the light of the Lord. Look at verse 19. We're familiar with this passage because it's quoted in Revelation. No longer will you have the sun for light by day, nor for brightness will the moon give you light, but you will have Yahweh for an everlasting light, and your God for your glory. Your sun will no longer set, nor will your moon wane, for you will have Yahweh for an everlasting light, and the days of your mourning will be finished. Then all your people will be righteous. They will possess the land forever, the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, that I may show forth my beautiful glory. It's his glory. It's his light that Zion is shining with. He speaks, and it happens. He speaks, and there's transformation occurs. And so we see here in chapter 62, verse one through five, the good news here is twofold. First, it's good news because the salvation has to come. But second of all, it's good news because he is the one who will bring it about. From start to finish, salvation belongs to the Lord. So then, what shall we do? What shall we then do, right? And in six through nine and 10 through 12, it kinda gives us those two points we mentioned before, prayer and evangelism. Six through nine, all about prayer. 10 through 12, all about evangelism. But again, this emphasis on the Lord's initiative, it doesn't stop in verse one. It continues through the rest of the chapter. Chapter 62, verse six through nine, the Lord's initiative in intercession, prayer, fueled by the promise. In verse one, Yahweh promised to never stop speaking until his plan of salvation redeemed for himself a people, culminating in his kingdom, the new Jerusalem was described. But here in six through nine, we see part of what that speaking entails. He speaks to appoint a people to pray. Read with me in chapter 62, verse six through nine. Isaiah writes, On your walls, O Jerusalem, I have appointed watchmen. All day and all night they will never keep silent. You who remind Yahweh, take no rest for yourselves and give him no rest until he establishes and sets Jerusalem as a praise in the earth. Yahweh has sworn by his right hand and by his strong arm, I will never again give your grain as food for your enemies, nor will foreigners drink your new wine for which you have labored. But those who collect it will eat it and praise Yahweh. And those who gather it will drink it in the courts of my sanctuary." Here is our response to God's plan of salvation, but again, the Lord is involved in it all throughout. He is the one appointing these watchmen. What's the picture of a watchman? It's someone who stands guard, like a soldier standing guard to make sure the enemy does not come. What happens if this watchman falls asleep? Well, he would be in big trouble, number one. Number two, the enemy could sneak in unaware. And so he is appointing us as watchmen. He says, O Jerusalem, I have appointed watchmen. What's their job as watchmen? Not to look around and look for the enemy, but instead to stay awake, to be on the alert all day and all night. They will never keep silent. Doing what? He says, you who remind Yahweh, take no rest for yourselves. That's their job. Their primary job is to remind Yahweh, to remind. Because in fact, what are we doing when we're praying? We are merely reminding him of what he has already spoken. It's the same thing that Moses did on Mount Sinai. The Israelites, they had disobeyed the Lord, they had built the golden calf, and when the Lord says, I'm gonna wipe them out and start again with you, Moses, what does Moses do? He points to God's promises. He says, but Lord, you have already spoken. you have already given the promise that you will bring your people into your land. And that's our job as well. When we are praying, we are merely reminding the Lord of what he has already promised. Lord, come soon. Come, Lord Jesus. Let your kingdom come. Save these souls. Lord, we know these are people that you have chosen for yourself. Bring them, redeem them, just as you have promised. Again, I hope this gives us confidence and boldness when we come before his throne. knowing that these aren't things that we're asking him to do that are foreign to his own will, that are foreign to what he desires. It's his own plan of salvation that we are reminding him of. Lord, remember what you have said. How often do we do this? Continually, night and day. It says, we do not give rest. What a picture of prayer. Do not rest. Keep praying. Paul says, pray without ceasing. Take no rest for yourselves. But it's not just us who are taking no rest. What does it say next? Take no rest for yourselves and give him no rest. Give him no rest until he establishes and sets Jerusalem as a praise in the earth. Don't let it be silent in heaven. Fill the heavenly throne room with cries for him to come. Come and save. Come Lord Jesus. What an incredible picture of prayer. We pray and we pray and we do not stop. We do not even give the Lord rest at all. We think of Luke chapter 18, of the unrighteous judge, where Jesus, this is how he tells us how to pray, doesn't he? Jesus says, pray, just like a widow who's seeking justice from an unrighteous judge. And that judge, though he doesn't fear God and doesn't fear man, will listen to that widow as she persists and persists and seeks justice. Although here, the picture's a little bit different too, isn't it? It's not that just God is an unrighteous judge, but it's as if that unrighteous judge had appointed that widow to keep on bugging him. Say, do not rest until I do what I'm supposed to do. And so here we see again, it's the Lord. He is the one who appointed these people to remind him to take no rest for themselves until he has accomplished his work to set Jerusalem as a praise in the earth. I pray that this is our prayer. And by the way, what do you pray for when you pray? Me and my wife, we work hard to teach our children to ask for what they need, right? They're sitting at the dinner table and they say, I don't have ketchup. Are we satisfied with that request? And we say, no, no, no, guys, guys, don't say, I don't have ketchup. Say, can you please ask the ketchup? We want them to ask, not just telling us what they lack, but to ask. We want to teach them to ask. We want to hear them ask. But that's just the first step. The next step is trying to get them to ask for the right things, right? Shaping their hearts, shaping their affections, so they ask for what they actually need. Father, can I have some ketchup? I say, well, son, you're eating ice cream right now. It's not the time, right? They need to be asking for the right things. We train them to give them the right wisdom, so they're asking for the thing that they need. What do you pray for when you pray? It is a great first step to come before the throne of God and to pray to him for everything that we need, everything that we most desire, but our hearts will ask for what we want the most. I pray that as the gospel moves us to pray, it also moves us to pray for what is really most important, for what is most urgent. And it is urgent, isn't it? It's urgent to the Lord as he appoints these watchmen. He appoints people to pray. He says, never keep silent. Do not rest. Don't let the Lord rest either. It's urgent. There's an urgency to it. And so I pray that as we think about the gospel, it will shape our heart and make us realize what we need the most. Come, Lord Jesus. Let your kingdom come. What we want the most, or at least should want the most, is what he has already promised. And so my hope is that as we pray, we will think about, number one, well, am I praying? Am I giving the Lord no rest until he does what he has promised? But then second of all, that we're praying according to his marvelous plan, his promises. Verses eight through nine continue, and ground us even further in his promises. Verses six and seven remind us that our prayers are mandated by His appointment. Verses eight and nine remind us that our prayers are motivated by His promises. Our prayers are motivated by His promises. Read with me verse eight and nine. The Lord has sworn, He has made an oath, by His right hand and by His strong arm, I will never gain your grain as food for your enemies, nor will foreigners drink your new wine for which you have labored. He made an oath. He has made the promise. And again, he grounds our prayer, our act of reminding the Lord, of giving the Lord no rest in his promise, in his oath. Perhaps something else that's striking here is it really has this picture of prayer as conversation. Now, I'm a little hesitant. Perhaps you are as well. This picture of prayer is conversation. Sometimes, you know, when I was a little boy, they'd say, well, prayer's not difficult. It's just having a conversation. It's just like you have a conversation with your friend. Now, we have to be a little bit cautious here. Jesus is not your homeboy, right? We are not just having a conversation just the same as we are having with a friend. We are having a conversation, though it is with a slave before his king. As we enter the throne room, that's the picture we're given, isn't it, in the book of Hebrews? As we enter into the throne room of God, We appeal, we supplicate the Lord for what we most need. But at the same time, it is a conversation. He has spoken, and we respond. He has promised, and we give in response, a prayer to remind him of that promise. It speaks to the well-said word that as we pray, we read, and as we read, we pray. We remind ourselves of the promises of God, and it moves our hearts to pray, Lord, bring about what you have already said in your word. You have made this oath. You have sworn by your right hand that you will bring about salvation, that you will never again let the wicked oppress the righteous, oppress your people. Lord, bring it to pass. And so we pray, again, not as those who have no hope, but as those knowing that he will bring about what he has said. In conversation with him, our great king. This then is our first response to the good news of God's plan of salvation from verses one through five. It's prayer for him to bring it about. We pray. We don't act first, we pray first. Amen. But then what happens is, we will find that as our hearts are filled with wonder and awe about God's beautiful plan of salvation, we pray, we speak to God, but we don't stop there, we also proclaim, we speak to others. And that's verses 10 through 12. It's the Lord's initiative and proclamation, heralding fueled by hearing. Heralding fueled by hearing. Read with me verses 10 through 12. Go through, go through the gates, clear the way for the people, build up, build up the highway, remove the stones, raise up a standard over the peoples. Behold, Yahweh has announced to the end of the earth, say to the daughter of Zion, behold, your salvation comes. Behold, his reward is with him and his recompense before him, and they will call them the holy people, the redeemed of Yahweh. And you will be called sought out, a city not forsaken. We hear God's word, and it moves us to proclaim God's word, to share God's word, to talk about God's word with others. In verses one through five, the Lord's light makes us glorious. In verses six through nine, the Lord's intervention moves us to intercede. Here in verses 10 through 12, the Lord's word moves us to proclaim. Again, I don't wanna go beyond what the text here says, but it really seems as if from verse one to verse 12, Yahweh speaking, it's the Lord's word that brings about all of this that we see in the entire chapter. In verse one, God will not stay silent, and therefore his plan of salvation will come about. What's the name we receive in verse two? It's a new name designated by the mouth of the Lord. Verses six through nine, he has appointed, right, by his word. He has made an oath by his word. It fuels our prayer, and then here in verses 10 through 12, it fuels our proclamation. Again, it's God's word that initiates this. It's his word commanding us to prepare in verse 10. Go through, go through the gates, clear the way for the people, build up, build up the highway, remove the stones, raise up a standard over the people. It's God's word commanding us to do this. Verse 11, behold, Yahweh has announced. It's his word announcing to the end of the earth to tell Zion, your salvation comes. He is speaking. and thereby he will bring about his plan of salvation. He is speaking, and as he speaks to us, we respond to God in prayer. Then here in verses 10 through 12, he is speaking, and as he speaks, we respond to God by, we respond, I'm sorry, not to God, but to others by proclaiming the gospel. He is speaking, and as our hearts are so filled with his truth, we are bursting at the seams. Our hearts are full, they're overcome, transformed by his word. And then when someone pokes us, there you go, out it comes, right? When someone pokes us, I pray that the gospel just pours out. I was saying hi to Jan at the gate, not the gate, at the door today, and she says, what a privilege it is to come and speak right after going to the Shepherd's Conference. And I know that you have to spend some of the time where you wish you were in sessions, you know, in the library preparing your notes, but what a blessing it is to hear the Word of God over and over again throughout the whole week, and then when you get there on Sunday to be able to preach it and share it with others. And the same effect is with all of us when we are hearing the Word of God preached on Sunday, listening to sermons perhaps or podcasts throughout the week, reading the Word daily in our own prayer closet. I pray that we're bursting at the seams. that our hearts are filled full. And then when someone shakes us just a little bit, oh, it spilled out. There was the gospel coming out just a little bit there. Not something to apologize for, of course, but it's a good spilling, right? Now the problem is, he is speaking, but we don't spend enough time listening. listening to his voice, whether, again, through reading the scriptures, listening to sermons, conversing with fellow saints. Does he not speak sometimes through the Christians that he has appointed to speak as we're conversing with one another about him and what he has done? We fail in listening when in times of crisis, instead of finding comfort in the truth, we find comfort in entertainment, food, creature comforts, as we sometimes call them, or other distractions. What do they call it? Amusement parks. Amusement. Even that word, if we look at the word, think idea of amusing. What is to amuse? To think. What is amusing? Finding something that prevents us from thinking. That actually not prevents us, allows us, so that we no longer have to think about what's going on in our lives. Amusement. Instead of turning to God's word and the truths that he has given in his scriptures in times of crisis, we turn to other things, and it pulls us away. And so what happens when we meet our coworkers or our friends? And they too need the comfort that can only be found in God's word, but we have nothing to give them. Because our hearts are not filled with the gospel, we have nothing to give to them when they themselves need the gospel. Brothers and sisters, we need to be filling our minds constantly. Again, I use the word we. I'm in this boat, too. We need to be filling our minds constantly, though, with truth to the gospel, found in his word from Genesis to Revelation. This word listening, again, this isn't my idea here. The word in verse 11, behold, Yahweh has announced, is literally the Lord has made it to be heard, to cause it to be heard. The Lord has caused it to be heard to the end of the earth. Right, he makes them hear it. Right, he makes them hear it. And what does the end of the earth do when they hear it? When God has made them to hear these gospel proclamations, these gospel truths? They hear it, and then they speak. Right, the Lord has made it heard to the end of the earth to say to the daughter of Zion, behold, your salvation comes. They hear, and then they speak. Now it's striking, who is the one doing the proclamation here? It's not Zion, actually. It's someone else, it's the end of the earth. If we remember what does Jesus say in Acts chapter one, verse eight, right, you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the ends of the earth. Now what's that ends of the earth there? We're talking not about Jews anymore, we're talking about Gentiles. That's you and me, that's you and me, Gentiles. Originally cut off from God, separate from his covenant people, but then brought in. That's the picture we see in verse 10 as well. What is this? This is God, what is verse 10? He says, go through, go through the gates, clear the way for the people, build up, build up a highway. This is language of the exodus. When God delivered his people from Egypt, he made them travel. They had to leave the land of slavery to go to his promised land. And in the book of Isaiah, that's what he does. He pictures salvation as if like it's a second exodus, leaving slavery, traveling to the place of redemption. And so as if that's what we're calling people to do as well. Clear a highway, do whatever it takes, make the way easy, right? To travel to the promised land. But he doesn't say just build up a highway, this highway to travel to the land of redemption. He says, remove the stones, raise up a standard over the peoples. Salvation not just for Israel, but for all the nations, a standard. Okay, not standard like, oh, I hope you meet the proper standard to do the right thing. A standard here is a banner. It's a flag saying, come. Raise a banner, come. Come join in the fun, okay? Isaiah 13, God's gonna judge Babylon. He raises up a standard, say, come nations, do war against Babylon. Here it's different, not raise up a standard to go do war. It's raise up a standard to come join in the celebration. Raise up a standard for the peoples, and as the peoples are invited in, what are they doing? Not just joining in the salvation, but as they join in the salvation, they're joining in the proclamation. First, raising up the standard. Come, join in the celebration. Then, join in the proclamation. Yahweh has announced, Yahweh has made it heard to the end of the earth. Say to the daughter of Zion, behold, your salvation comes. It's us. It's the Gentiles. The light of the glory of Christ has shone, first transforming Israel, so that Israel's light can go to the surrounding nations. But then, as this light shines on the nations, they are transformed as well, and they join in the celebration of the Son's victory as well. The glory of God on the face of Christ has not just transformed Israel, but now all the nations, so that they too can join in the great gospel celebration as well. And that's what preaching the gospel is. It's a celebration. We're celebrating. Some of you perhaps have been wondering, is this really a gospel proclamation? Where's repent and believe here? And I don't wanna downplay the importance of repentance. The apostles are very clear, right? Repentance and belief, definitely implications. Christ has won. There needs to be repentance. There needs to be belief. The example of the apostles is clear on that. And to be fair, passages in Isaiah talk about this too. We heard a sermon at a shepherd's conference, Isaiah 55. This reminds us of John chapter four. He says, ho, ho, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters. You who have no money, come, buy and eat. H.B. Charles preached a wonderful sermon on this passage. Just incredible. This invitation, come, come to the waters, the waters of living, of living waters. Again, think of John chapter four. But Jesus probably takes inspiration from this passage as he calls the Samaritan woman to believe and repent. So there is belief and repentance. But again, at its core, gospel proclamation It's a celebration of victory. That's what the word gospel here literally means. If you do a word study on this word gospel or gospel proclaimer, you find some interesting examples. For example, Isaiah, sorry, 1 Samuel 31 9. 1 Samuel 31, the Philistines beat the Israelites, and then they do what? They proclaim the good news. Not good news of Jesus Christ there. They're proclaiming the good news of what? They won. They won the battle. Good news for the Philistines, bad news for Israel. But it gives us a little flavor of what that word means, doesn't it? It's a, we won. The victory has been accomplished. Let's celebrate. And that's the picture we see throughout Isaiah as well. When Isaiah's talking about this gospel proclamation, what do we see, again, in chapter 40, verse nine to 10? Behold your God. Behold, Lord Yahweh will come in strength. He's coming to save. The victory is here. Chapter 52, verse seven. The beautiful feet, right? How lovely on the mountains are the feet of him who proclaims good news. What does he do? He announces peace. He proclaims good news of good things. He announces salvation. Says to Zion, your God reigns. Believe and repent? Definitely. The Lord reigns, and so we must believe and repent. But before we get to believe and repent, the word gospel itself, the word proclaiming the gospel itself, it's a victory celebration. Christ has won. If you say, well, Ryan, it sounds like you just stole Abner's point, I would like to make a quick disclaimer. Abner preached the same thing in a shepherds conference. He made this exact same point. Well, I would like to say, I didn't take it from him. This was already in my sermon notes, but I did, he told me, he said, he gave me this illustration 10 years ago, so I'll share it with you now. Maybe you've heard it yourself. When a team wins a Super Bowl, what do they do? They announce the victory. Is their primary goal to bring to conversion, right? The Packers win the Super Bowl, or I don't know who played in the Super Bowl this year. Sorry, I'm in the wrong country. But the Packers win the Super Bowl, do they run around to the 49ers fan and say, now you should be a Packers fan too? Well, maybe, but not primarily. Primarily, what are they doing? They're celebrating the victory. They're celebrating the victory. Victory is here. It's time to celebrate. When we go and we preach the gospel, we proclaim the gospel, it's first and foremost a proclamation that the victory has been won. Again, Abner had a great point. Our job is not to convert. We're not converters. We're evangelists. The role of conversion, that's the Holy Spirit. All we do is we proclaim, we say Christ is one. And that in itself, even if no one converts, even if no one is brought to repentance by the power of the Holy Spirit, that is what faithfulness looks like, to preach the gospel. Christ is one. I hope we catch the excitement here. I know LSB, it's here to be literal, and there's no exclamations in the Hebrew, but I really think you do this passage justice if you leave the commas in here. Go through, go through the gates, clear the way for the people. Oh, no, no, no, not at all, not at all. Go through, right? Go through the gates, come in. Welcome to the city, welcome to the promised land. Welcome to the new Jerusalem. Clear the way for the people. Build up, build up the highway, remove the stones, behold, right? That little comma, I use pencil, I mean, I mark up my Bible, just make that an exclamation mark, behold, right? Behold, the Lord has announced to the end of the earth, say to the daughter of Zion, your salvation comes. Catch the excitement. It goes without saying, again, this excitement will never come from wracking yourself with guilt. This excitement comes from not beholding yourself, but beholding Christ, by looking at His victory. Again, we don't need to deny that we are failures. Amen. We are failures. We don't proclaim the gospel like we should be. It's not denying, but that's not where our eyes are. Our eyes are on Christ. You are a failure, but He is not. And so we must meditate upon his victory to the point that our hearts are so filled with the gospel that we cannot keep silent. Now again, there is of course a time and a place for purposely going out in faith and obedience even when our affections are not there, when our cup is not full and we're overfilling, but we know there is a time and place for that, but it's a provisional solution at most. It's temporary. It'll only get you so far. It might get you one day, but it's a quick and temporary fix. It will not last. Like pouring water out of an empty cup, soon we will run dry. how much better to serve out of the abundance, in our prayers and in our proclamation, to serve out of the overflow of our hearts. The true solution, when we find ourselves not proclaiming the victory of Christ as we should, is not racking ourselves with guilt, but rather preaching the gospel to ourselves, exposing ourselves, putting ourselves in God's word, reminding ourselves of what He has done, fixing our eyes on Christ, Until our hearts are so full, it cannot help but come out. Again, perhaps another way to say it is, instead of trying to work up the courage to preach the gospel by burdening our consciences with guilt, how much better it is to fuel our evangelism by reminding ourselves that our guilt has already been resolved. And my prayer is that even today, as we consider the good news of Christ's victory over sin and death, that our hearts are stirred to proclaim the gospel of confidence and to come before his throne with boldness, knowing that we're not doing anything outside of what he's already promised and what he will do, again, all the while praying for Christ's return and to return soon. Close with me in prayer. Oh God, we thank you. that even though our lips are unformed and not worthy to even have on our own lips, we find ourselves at a lack for words, we don't know exactly what we should say in those moments, but Lord, we thank you that your work of bringing about your plan of salvation first and foremost, but even to convert the unrighteous, Lord, does not depend on us, but the power of the Holy Spirit. And we thank you, Lord, that all throughout starting with your own salvation, moving it to prayer and into proclamation. That is your initiative, it is your appointment, it is your intervention that fuels the whole thing. Lord, I pray that this would give us courage, but most of all, Lord, not just courage, but peace and calm and joy, Lord. knowing that you are the one bringing about your salvation, and oh, what a beautiful salvation it is. God, I pray that our hearts will be full. Thank you, Lord, for giving us even the privilege to join in the work that you are doing. In your name, in the name of your son.