<p>Free sharing permitted under the Creative Commons <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/">BY-NC-ND 3.0 (US)</a> license.</p>

W.D. Frazee Sermons Ministry

W.D. Frazee

I Will Not Rest- Isaiah 62: 1-7- Part 1

When the Bible was written, as you know, it was not divided into chapters and verses as we have it now.

And so I would like to call your attention to the verse which immediately precedes the chapter that we're going to look at tonight, the last verse of the 61st chapter, a very appropriate verse for this season of the year.

For as the earth bringeth forth her bud, and as the garden causeth the things that are sown in it to spring forth, so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations." That's a good Springtime text, isn't it?

For Zion's sake 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.

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.

Thou shalt also be a crown of glory in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand of thy God.

Thou shalt no more be termed forsaken, neither shall thy land any more be termed desolate, but thou shalt be called Hephzibah, and thy land Beulah.

For the Lord delighteth in thee, and thy land shall be married.

For as a young man marrieth a virgin, so shall thy sons marry thee.

And as the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride, so shall thy God rejoice over thee.

I have set watchmen upon thy wall, O Jerusalem, which shall never hold their peace day nor night.

Reading the margin now, Ye that are the Lord's remembrances, take ye no rest, and give him no rest, till he establish, and till he make Jerusalem a praise in the earth.

In this wonderful galaxy of statements, May I call your attention to 3 that stand out like the 3 corners of a great constellation.

The first statement in the first verse, I will not rest.

The next 1 in the sixth verse, take ye no rest.

Reading the American Jewish translation, here in our King James it says, keep not silent, the thought is rest.

And then in the seventh verse, give him, that is the Lord, no rest.

I will not rest, take ye no rest, Take ye no rest, give him no rest.

What is this subject which is of sufficient importance to make everyone busy about carrying through a certain plan.

What is it that's so important that I must not rest, others must not rest, We all must unite in giving God no rest until it's done.

Well, he says it's so that God establishes and makes Jerusalem a praise in the earth.

You see, when the great controversy began, Lucifer charged that God was unjust, unreasonable, and that nobody could keep God's law, that it was impossible, and that if the creatures of this universe had a fair chance, they would not choose God as their sovereign.

And so, all these millenniums, the controversy has been going on.

And, of course, many of the people of this world have voted along with Satan to rebel against God, but all the way down through, God has had some that have stood for him.

Against them, Satan has marshaled all his hosts to silence their witness.

But it has been God's purpose that here in this world, in this present world, a nation might be developed, not merely an individual here or there, but a nation might be developed that would fully vindicate God's character and reveal God's purpose.

It was for this reason that he called Abram from Ur of the Chaldee and gave him the promise that through his seed all the nations of the earth should be blessed.

It was for this purpose that later God called the seed of Abraham out of Egypt and through a series of miracles brought them into the promised land and established them there in Canaan.

He made wonderful promises to that people.

He intended that they should give a demonstration of heaven on earth.

And if they had only listened to his instructions, if they had only been willing to keep his commandments, that's exactly what would have happened.

The whole world would have been put in the position where they would have had to admit that God's way was better than Satan's.

Now they came a certain distance along that road.

You remember that under Joshua Canaan was conquered, and God's people established there.

The fame of the God of Israel spread far and wide.

But foolish as the human heart is, They soon plunged into the idolatry of the nations they'd conquered, and losing God's presence, they lost his power.

They in turn became conquered by the nations around them.

Finally under Samuel and under David there was a reformation, and under Solomon, Israel reached the zenith of her glory.

We are told that the kings of the earth came to Solomon to learn his wisdom and to see the glory.

But because Solomon departed from the book of the law, Israel under his leadership went downhill fast.

In the very prosperity that had come through their obedience to God, lurked a danger.

They trusted to popularity, prestige, prosperity.

And so very soon they were divided and later conquered by other nations, and the Jews were scattered all through the other nations.

They never regained the glory that had been theirs under David and Solomon.

But even in the time of her glory, Israel never reached the high position that God intended.

How then would the demonstration be made?

Finally the Son of God came to earth, became a little babe.

He came to that people that had been established there by the providence of God.

He came to that place that heaven had selected for the demonstration.

And there he revealed himself as the Messiah, the 1 that fulfilled the prophecies of the Old Testament.

And oh my dear friend, if Israel had only received him, Jesus would have led them to the heights of glory.

And right here in this world, Jerusalem would have become the metropolis of a great kingdom.

That's what many of the Old Testament prophecies deal with.

What would have happened If Israel had only received her king, but because he called for a reformation of heart, a change of life, they would not receive him.

Because he showed them sacrifice, They turned away from him, and they nailed him to the cross.

Would he give up his plan to make the demonstration?

Would he admit the claims of Satan that it could not be done?

He said, the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a nation, bringing forth the fruits thereof.

In the New Testament church, we have the Israel of God.

And so we read in Galatians the third chapter and the 29th verse, if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.

So all who accept Jesus become a part of the Israel of God and to them is to be fulfilled the covenant promises.

Now that is a great statement to make, friends, and while I have just proved it with the verse that I have read from the Bible.

I want to back it up with this inspired comment from the book Prophets and Kings, page 713.

That which God purposed to do for the world through Israel, the chosen nation, he will finally accomplish through his church on earth today.

And may I say, friends, and I want you to ponder on this, that can never be done merely by having some individuals here and some individuals there that are true to God.

Therefore if you and I could run as fast as Elijah ran before the chariot of Ahab, We could not individually ever run fast enough to carry out this purpose of God.

This is something that must be done in the Church, through the Church.

This is what God has set his heart on for 6, 000 years, that a whole nation, a whole group, the entire body of the faithful should together give a demonstration here on earth of the principles of heaven.

And this is the purpose that calls for these exhortations and these determinations in the text we have read tonight.

For Zion's sake 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.

Nearly 3 millenniums have gone by, my friends, since those words were penned by the ancient prophet, but the time for the urgency of this thing to grip the people of God is now.

This is the hour when that sense of restless longing, that sense of divine urgency shall grip our heart that we cannot be satisfied with anything less than the complete carrying out of God's plan in the Church.

And so he says, I will not rest until that happens.

And then down to the sixth and seventh verses.

I have set watchmen upon thy walls, O Jerusalem, which shall never hold their peace day nor night, ye that are the Lord's remembrances." Do you see that in your margins?

Take no rest, and give him no rest till he establish and till he make Jerusalem a praise in the earth.

Back to Menu

I Will Not Rest- Isaiah 62: 1-7- Part 1

Transcript

Sponsor

Related

Put Your Sword in its Place

45m

Mocking the Remnant

37m

Michael Shall Stand Up

52m

God's First Book, Our First Classroom- Part II

God’s First Book, Our First Classroom II: Part 3

1h 12m

"Tell It Again"

God’s Love Language

56m

Dave Fiedler: Thoughts on Thinking - A Brief History of Adventist Thought

Picking Up the Pieces: Learn the Lessons, Get it Right

1h

Plenary Meetings

Prayer, Praise, and the Preaching of Prophecy

43m

The REBELution

1h 9m

Waiting and Warning: Echoes from the Book of Ezekiel

1h 6m

Facing the Final Judgment with No Fear

38m

The Faith Once For All

The Faith Once For All Part 1

40m

WYC 2012 Breakout Sessions

Babylon and False Education

1h 48m

Sound Doctrine