In this sermon, the preacher discusses the story of Gideon and how he had to hide his threshing activities from the Midianites. The Midianites would constantly come and take away the crops that Gideon and his people had worked hard to gather. However, God promises that this will no longer happen and that those who gather the crops will be able to enjoy them and praise the Lord. The preacher emphasizes the importance of persistently seeking God's help and not giving up until He brings about the desired outcome. The sermon also highlights the concept of servanthood and how Jesus taught his disciples to serve one another. The preacher encourages the congregation to serve others in the name of the Lord, as God rewards such acts of service. The sermon concludes with a reminder of the eternal reward that awaits believers in heaven.

Shall we turn in our Bibles to Isaiah 61. We are told in the New Testament that the Old Testament prophets many times wrote of things that they did not really understand. Earnestly desiring really to look into these things, but they wrote as the Spirit of God inspired them. And so we find that quite often the Old Testament prophets did not clearly understand the work of God in creating the body of Christ, the Church, from among the Gentiles. Paul the Apostle in talking about the Church and Christ in us, the hope of glory, said that it was a mystery that was hid from the beginning of time, but is now revealed, and so it is something that was not revealed until the New Testament writings and the epistles. It was something that was more or less hid from the Old Testament writers. Now in their prophecies concerning the work and the ministry of Jesus Christ, quite often both aspects of the coming of Christ would be more or less mixed together in a single phrase or in a prophecy. So they would be prophesying of aspects of the first coming of Jesus Christ and also would go right in and prophesy of the aspects of the second coming of Jesus Christ right in the same sentence or paragraph. And they did not really clearly see the distinction between, well they really didn't see the two comings of Christ. And thus it was a mystery to them the things that they wrote because they seemed to be so incongruous. They spoke of the glorious reign of the Messiah and of the Kingdom sitting upon the throne of David and all of the earth flowing unto Jerusalem and all and then they spoke about him being despised, rejected, a man of sorrows, acquainted with griefs and they just really didn't themselves understand these things of which they wrote. For they were written for our sakes. Now with Daniel, when he was seeking further understanding the Lord said just seal it up Daniel it's for the time of the end. It's not really given to you to understand these things you just wrote them that's you've done your job that's good now. But in the last days knowledge will be increased. I will give the understanding of these things. These things are written for a generation that is to come. Not written for your understanding but for the generation that is to come and they will be understanding these things so that as we look now at the Bible prophecies with the advantage of our history and we can look back now and see the coming of Christ we can see him despised and rejected and we can now look towards the second coming of Christ and as we see these things beginning to take place in the world around us we say oh well that's what Daniel was talking about oh yes I can see that now and it begins to unfold to us in these days. So as we get into the 61st chapter of Isaiah the prophecy concerning Jesus Christ he actually just merges both of the comings of Christ in to one prophecy but Jesus because he understood the two aspects of his coming. When he in the synagogue of Nazareth turned to the prophecy of Isaiah and read this particular passage stopped in what is right the middle of verse 2 in our Bibles and at that point he closed the scroll and said today this scripture is fulfilled in your eyes. He didn't go on because if you go on you are then dealing with the aspects of the second coming of Jesus Christ. Now that wasn't fulfilled that day that won't be fulfilled until he comes again. So understanding and discerning his ministry in his first coming he stopped right in what is the middle of the prophecy here in Isaiah for us and said today this scripture is fulfilled in your eyes. So what was fulfilled and what is yet to be fulfilled? This is what was fulfilled the spirit of the Lord God is upon me because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings to the meek. Now in a restricted sense this prophecy is of Jesus Christ in his ministry who was anointed by the spirit and went about preaching the good tidings to the meek. You remember when John the Baptist was in prison and John did not understand the prophecies concerning Jesus Christ. John was expecting him to establish the kingdom momentarily and when John was sitting there in prison for a while he started getting impatient and he sent his disciples to Jesus and he said are you the one that we're to look for or shall we start looking for someone else? In other words when you're going to get this show on the road? Tired of this prison life and he knew that Jesus was the one because he testified of Jesus that the Lord had told him whoever he saw the spirit descending upon and remaining that that was the one and John testified of the spirit of God descending upon Christ and resting upon him that is baptism so he knew he was the one and yet because Jesus wasn't moving right into the kingdom and setting up the kingdom and throwing out the Romans and all of this he said are you the one or shall we look for another? And Jesus did not directly answer John's inquisition but instead in that same hour he healed many of the sick and those he opened up the blind eyes and caused the lame to walk and so forth and then he said to his disciples just go tell John what you have seen how that the blind have had their eyes open the deaf hear the lame are walking and to the poor the gospel is being preached. I'm fulfilling the prophecies John you know the word you know the scriptures and I'm doing the things that the scripture said you don't need a direct answer yes I am the messiah just go back and tell John the things that you see John knows the scriptures well enough he'll know that I am the one you don't need to look for anybody else for the spirit of the Lord God is upon me for the Lord has anointed me to preach the gospel to the meek as Jesus said he did not come to call the righteous but the sinners to repentance for they that are whole need not the physician but they that are sick the son of man has come to seek and to save that which was lost I am interested in observing the ministry of Jesus Christ his attitude towards those who were acknowledged confessed sinners and his attitude towards those self-righteous individuals to the woman that was brought to him caught in the very act of adultery he shows great tenderness understanding and grace woman where are your accusers well sir I guess I don't have any well neither do I condemn thee go thy way sin no more oh how tender he deals with her to the woman of Samaria there at the well now she wasn't the most moral woman around she had been married to five different men and then finally decided marriage wasn't for her and so she was just living with a man some of those who think they're so modern today that stuff's been going on for a long time people have been immoral from the beginning and yet Jesus in his dealing with her was so gracious revealing to her his identity for she said I know that when the Messiah comes he's going to teach us all things and he said woman I that speak to thee am he oh the attitude of Christ towards the sinner was always beautiful he had a good news for sinning man and those that confessed and were aware of their sinful state to those who were righteous in themselves he had nothing but words of vilification he was harsh with them woe unto you scribes pharisees hypocrites and boy did he denounce them if you think gentle Jesus meek and mild look upon this little child you better think again and read Matthew's gospel 22 and you'll see his attitude towards the self-righteous self-sufficient but the Spirit of the Lord is upon me he's anointed me to preach the good tidings to the meek he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted to proclaim liberty to the captives and the opening of the prison to them that are bound now I believe that this particular portion of the verse refers to the ministry of Christ to those who had died before he came to open the prison to those that are bound for we are told by Peter that Christ preached to those souls that were in prison Paul tells us that he who has ascended is the same one who first of all descended into the lower parts of the earth and when he ascended he led the captives from their captivity you see from the time even before Abraham there were those men of the Old Testament who were accounted righteous because of their faith in God Abraham became more or less the figurehead for those who believed and had faith in God and they were waiting for the promises of God Hebrews 11 tells us that they all died in faith not having received the promise but seeing it afar off they embraced it they held on to it they claimed I'm only a stranger in a pilgrim here I'm only passing through this isn't my life this isn't where it's at I'm looking for a city which has foundation is maker and builder is God they were looking for the glorious kingdom of God and they all died in faith believing the kingdom and God to establish that kingdom they all died in faith not having received the promise God having reserved something better for us that they apart from us couldn't be brought into the completed state it was impossible that the blood of bulls and goats could put away their sin that took the sacrifice of Jesus Christ upon the cross so the blood sacrifices that they had made according to the old covenant covered their sin but did not put it away and they had to wait for the sacrifice of Jesus Christ before they could enter into that heavenly scene so we are told by Peter that when Jesus died he descended into hell he tells us the purpose of his going there to preach to those souls that were in prison that one time were disobedient but they believed and trusted in God and Paul tells us when he ascended he led the captives from their captivity and Matthew's gospel chapter 27 tells us that when he arose from the dead many of the graves of the saints were open and they were seen walking in the streets of Jerusalem after his resurrection from the dead they were released from the prison so a part of the first coming was to release from the prison those that were bound by death for Jesus said I am the resurrection and the life he that believeth on me though he were dead yet he's going to live and he who lives and believes in me shall never die we will have a transition that is necessary this corruption must put on incorruption this mortal must put on immortality and I know that when this earthly tabernacle is dissolved I have a new building of God a house that is not made with hands that is eternal in the heavens and while I'm still in this dumb old tent I groan earnestly desiring to move out you know it's hard to get out of bed in the morning anymore dumb left foot of mine starting to pain first thing in the morning I got to walk for a few steps to get the thing operating I never thought I'd reach this age hard to walk in the morning what a tent wearing out but oh thank God I have a building of God that's not made with hands that's eternal in the heavens one of these days I'm not going to die I'm going to move from the tent into that glorious building of God the mansion that he's prepared for me so to finish the aspects of his first coming to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord this is the accepted day God's accepted time for your salvation at this point Jesus closed the scroll because these things dealt with the first aspect of his coming now Isaiah not really seeing the two comings goes right on and he declares in the day of the vengeance of our God well that's not going to take place until yet future God's vengeance and wrath is going to be poured out upon this earth as the seals are open the judgments of God are going to begin to fall and the earth will enter into that period known as the great tribulation and we read where the men the chief men of the earth and the captains and so forth will call to the rocks and the mountains and say fall on us and hide us from the face of the lamb for his day of wrath has come the day of the vengeance of our God well that won't take place until a yet future time during the great tribulation and I think that it is totally inconsistent with God and the nature of God and the work of Jesus Christ to think that the church would be here during the time that God pours out his wrath upon the earth in fact Paul tells us in Romans 5 9 that we have not been appointed unto wrath he tells us again in first Thessalonians 5 9 that we're not been appointed unto wrath and I think it's totally inconsistent with the nature of God to think that Christ having born the wrath of God for our sin that we would somehow have to face the wrath of God during the great tribulation now as a child of God as long as I'm in this alien world I'm going to have tribulation Jesus said in this world you will have tribulation but be of good cheer for I've overcome the world now if you were of the world the world would love you because you'd be a part of their whole system because you're not of the world they hate you and if they haven't received me they're not going to receive you if they've hated me they're going to hate you the servant isn't greater than his lord and so as a child of God walking in fellowship with God in this alien world I can expect to have tribulation it's not going to be easy however I shall surely not face the wrath of God the great tribulation and the whole vast difference is the tribulation that I face comes from Satan the tribulation that the world is going to face comes from the vengeance of God who has declared vengeance is mine I will repay saith the Lord so to proclaim the day of the vengeance of our God and to comfort all that mourn moving into the kingdom age to appoint unto them that mourn in Zion to give them the beauty for ashes the oil of joy for mourning the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness that they might be called the trees of righteousness the planning of the Lord that he may be glorified for they shall build up the old waste the rebuilding that will go on in that land and they shall raise up the former desolations and they shall repair the waste cities and the desolations of many generations and of course we see a beginning of that today but what we see today is not really the fulfillment of this particular passage in Isaiah because Isaiah here is going on into the kingdom age that which so much of that which is being built up now is going to be destroyed unfortunately Israel is going to be the central battlefield of two more major battles probably the biggest and bloodiest battles in the history of the world are yet to be fought in that land and so much of that marvelous building that is going on there today will be destroyed in the wars that are yet to come upon this nation but this particular prophecy goes out into the kingdom age as they rebuild the waste and the waste cities and the desolations of many generations and strangers shall stand and feed your flocks as God restores the nation Israel now you hear a lot of people and even ministers who talk about the final restitution of all things God is going to finally save everybody nobody will be lost even Satan will repent and be brought back as a child that is not what the teaches when it speaks of the final restitution in the final restitution God is talking about his restitution of the nation of Israel as his people they have been put away as an unfaithful wife and God is going to bring them back again even as is depicted graphically in the prophecy of Hosea when God said go out and take a wife and and and he married this wife and she bore him a couple of children she bore another child and he called it loamy that's not my kid and she finally just went out and became a prostitute her life was marred and ruined as she made love with anybody who would come along and God finally said to Hosea go find your wife and take her again and buy her redeem her she's gone into slavery redeem her wash her up clean her up and take her as your wife again and so God spoke then through that graphic illustration of how he would bring Israel again back into a relationship with him where he would love her as a wife and be a husband unto them and this goes into that area the stranger shall stand and feed your flocks the son of the alien shall be your plowman and your vine dressers but you shall be named the priest of the Lord men shall call you the ministers of our God and the word minister is servant I think that it's important that we remember that we so oftentimes use that as as a title of of great distinction oh he's a minister you're saying oh he's a slave you know well it's great we ought to think of it as that sometimes I think well I'm a minister you know give me a 10 discount after all you know and and we think you know well if I'm a minister I should have special privileges I'm a minister you know I should get at the front of the line or I'm and and that is totally incongruous with the true aspect of the word minister and the idea of ministry as Jesus spoke of it he said if you're going to be chief then learn to be the servant of all and and he taught the servanthood he took and put a towel around himself tied a towel around himself and he went around and washed the disciples feet if I being your Lord have become your servant then learn to be servants and so the beautiful privilege we have of serving God by serving one another in as much as you've done it unto the least of these my brethren you've done it unto me giving a cup of cold water serving in the name of the Lord God rewards us for his service whatsoever you do in word or deed do all to the glory of God do it as unto the Lord knowing that of the Lord you're going to receive your reward and so it's a glorious thing to be called now in the book of Revelation in chapter one as he is giving the opening remarks in speaking of Jesus Christ he said who hath redeemed us with his blood who hath made us kings and priests unto our God more literally a kingdom of priests unto our God so that is going to be a part of the ministry and the work of the church in the kingdom age is that we will be priests unto our God in the fifth chapter of the book of Revelation when Jesus takes the scroll out of the right hand of the father and they sing the new song it is thou art worthy to take the scroll and loose the seals for thou was slain and hath redeemed us by thy blood out of all of the nations tribes tongues and people and hath made us unto our God again a kingdom of priests and we shall reign with thee upon the earth and so looking forward to the glorious kingdom age the place of the church will be as a kingdom of priests reigning with the Lord upon the earth and so you shall be named the priest of the Lord men shall call you the ministers of our God ye shall eat the riches of the Gentiles and in their glory shall ye boast yourselves for your shame talking again to Israel the shame that they've gone through you shall have double and for confusion they shall rejoice in their portion therefore in their land they shall possess the double everlasting joy shall be unto them for I the Lord love judgment I hate robbery for burnt offering and I will direct their work in truth and I will make an everlasting covenant with them and their seed shall be known among the Gentiles and their offspring among the people and all that see them shall acknowledge them that they are the seed which the Lord has blessed the universal recognition of God's grace and mercy as he restores the nation Israel to that favored nation status I will greatly rejoice in the Lord my soul shall be joyful in my God for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation he has covered me with the robe of righteousness this is the response actually to these glorious promises of God of restoration I will greatly rejoice in the Lord my soul shall be joyful in my God for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation he's covered me with a robe of righteousness as a bride groomed deck of himself with ornaments and as a bride adorneth herself with jewels for as the earth brings forth her bud and the garden causes the things that are sown in it to spring forth so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all nations oh that glorious day of the Lord how we anticipated and look for it as I look around the world today and I see the things that are happening I pray with John even so come quickly Lord Jesus this week they'll be sharing with you some of the things that the scientists are now dabbling in in genetic engineering and some of the goals that the chief geneticists have declared for genetic engineering and some of the things that they're starting to do now shocking things some of the creatures that they're beginning to create through genetic engineering it's really shocking things that are happening in the world today and you wonder how far will God allow these things to go it seems that man in the past has perhaps had periods of genetic engineering it isn't man has arisen to tremendous scientific levels in the past but whenever man seems to get to a point of development especially as they move into the area of genetic engineering God says that's it and he cuts it off even as before the flood there were these creatures that were upon the earth the the giants men of renown through genetic engineering and and God wiped them out and and started all over again with Noah you you've got some very interesting things to consider this week as they share with us some of the past and some of the future from a scientific standpoint in chapter 62 God continues to speak of the restoration of Israel for Zion's sake that is Jerusalem will I not hold my peace and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest until the righteousness thereof go forth as brightness and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burneth God said I'm not going to rest until I've accomplished it and the Gentiles shall see thy righteousness and all kings thy glory and thou shalt be called by a new name which the mouth of the Lord shall name and thou shalt also be a crown of glory in the hand of the Lord and a royal diadem in the hand of God thou shalt no more be termed forsaken and of course the the people have felt forsaken just recently they had a another commemoration for those who survived the holocaust and you talk to so many people in Israel today or those who are here who have survived the holocaust and so often their question was where was God when our parents or our uncles were burned in the ovens in Germany where was God where was God and that is a common question that you hear asked by them and they themselves feel forsaken by God but you will no longer be called forsaken neither will your land be termed desolate but you shall be called Hepsapa which means the Lord delights in thee and thy land will be called Beulah which means married for as a young man marries a virgin so shall thy sons marry thee and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride so shall thy God rejoice over thee as a bridegroom over the bride so again this beautiful figure of speech that God relates to Israel as a bridegroom to his bride now in the new testament that same kind of relationship exists between Christ and his church as Paul writing to the Ephesians writes about marital relationships husbands love your wives as Christ loved the church and gave himself for it and wives submitting yourselves unto your own husbands as unto the Lord now I speak to you Paul said of a mystery for I speak concerning Christ and his church how that we have this beautiful intimate relationship with Jesus Christ as the bride to the bridegroom and that love and all that is there so it is a figure of the old testament between God and Israel in the new testament of that is God the father in Israel in the new testament of Jesus and the church I have set watchmen upon thy walls O Jerusalem which shall never hold their peace day or night ye that make mention of the Lord keep not silence in other words calling for intercessors give him no rest till he established till he makes Jerusalem a praise in the earth in other words don't stop praying until the fulfillment of this takes place and God makes Jerusalem that glorious praise of the earth once more the Bible says pray for the peace of the root Jerusalem they shall prosper who will pray for your peace and so we are encouraged here of continual intercession and prayer giving him no rest interesting phrase concerning prayer you remember Jesus made an illustration of prayer in which he used very unlikely types of figures it was a judge who had this little widow woman coming in every day and saying avenge me my adversary and every day she was there seeking to be avenged of her adversary and finally Jesus said though the judge said I don't fear God or man but this little woman is going to drive me crazy and so he you know gave the judgment for her and and and he was using that as a illustration to encourage us in persistence in prayer now I have great difficulty with this in my own mind and in the understanding of it the difficulty lies in in the in the man that Jesus chooses in a figure to represent God for he was an unjust judge man says I don't fear God or man and the persistence of this little woman but the illustration is this if even an unjust judge will yield to the persistence how much more will a righteous just father in heaven answer the petitions of his children who call upon him continually so he's not really using the judge he's using the judge in a sharp contrast to God rather than as a figure of God but in sharp contrast so even if an unjust judge will yield to persistency how much more and so much of the new testament is in contrast if this would happen how much more than will God your father so don't give God rest until he makes Jerusalem a praise in the earth the Lord hath sworn by his right hand and by the arm of his strength surely I will no more give thy corn to be meat for your enemies and your sons to be the stranger and the sons of thy stranger rather shall not drink thy wine for that which thou hast labored now so often they found that the you remember and it was something that persisted through their history when their enemies had overrun them they would come in and take their crops you remember Gideon was threshing in a cave to hide it from the Midianites because the Midianites would watch them as soon as they'd thresh the wheat they come in and and rip them off and so you'd labor and someone else would take it from you and they experienced this many times they would build up the land and build up these places and other people come in and take it so God says that's not going to happen anymore but they that have gathered it shall eat it and praise the Lord and they that have brought it together shall drink in the courts of my holiness go through go through the gates prepare ye the way of the people cast up cast up the highway gather out the stones lift up a standard for the people behold the Lord hath proclaimed to the end of the world say ye to the daughter of Zion behold thy salvation comma behold his reward is with him and his work is before him and they shall call them the holy people the redeemed of the Lord and thou shalt be called sought out a city not forsaken so God's restoration of the people