Isaiah chapter 55, Isaiah 55. For our Bible reading today, we'll read the chapter together. We're glad that our streaming platforms, we trust, are back online again. I know that some people, you reveal of that, and maybe you've been, it's been out for a few weeks. We trust that those various streaming platforms are working today. Isaiah chapter, Number 55, let's hear God's word as we have it before us. Ho everyone that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money, come ye by and eat. Ye come by wine and milk without money and without price. Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which satisfieth not? Hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness. Incline your ear and come unto me. Herein your souls shall live, and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David. Behold, I have given him for a witness to the people, a leader and a commander to the people. Behold, thou shalt call a nation that thou knowest not, a nation that knew not thee shall run unto thee because of the Lord thy God and for the Holy One of Israel, for he hath glorified thee. Seek ye the Lord while he may be found. Call ye upon him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts, and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts and your thoughts. For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not hither, but waters the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth. It shall not return unto me void, It shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing where to I sent it. Ye shall go out with joy and be led forth with peace. The mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree, and instead of the briar shall come up the myrtle tree. And it shall be to the Lord for a name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off. Amen, we conclude at the natural break at the end of the chapter. We'll pray together very briefly. Time is going on. Our loving Father, we come now before thy word. We pray Lord that there might be a word for every soul and every heart, whatever the spiritual condition would be of all who have come and congregated, made the effort assemble in the house of God this day. Draw near, Lord, to each and every one, we pray. We commit our ways to Thee. Lord, I give myself entirely to Thee, and I pray that Thou would use me now to the glorifying of our God. Grant, Lord, the help of Thy Spirit. I pray God, these are petitions, my petitions, in and through the Savior's great and precious and holy name. Amen. So full is this chapter with familiar scriptural texts that we could spend the next number of weeks considering what we have before us here in the 55th chapter of the prophecy of Isaiah. For example, in the verse number one, God, He issues an appeal to those who have searched the world over to try and to find something to satisfy the deep longing of the soul, but have found nothing there that truly satisfies. God invites such a one to come to Him and to partake of that which He freely offers to the sinner in the gospel. Everyone that thirsteth, come ye to the waters. And he that hath no money, come ye by, and DJ, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which satisfieth not? Hearken diligently unto me, and eat that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness. I wonder, are you here today thirsty? Are you here as one who is spiritually bankrupt? Listen then to the appeal from God today. Come. Come to Him. Believe on Him. Receive Him. Take from Him that which He offers to you in the gospel. The forgiveness of sins and the pardoning of them. through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. In the verse number 6, we are brought to consider the first of the chapter's two returns, the return of the sinner to God. In verses 5 and 6, they set forth man's responsibility when it comes to the matter of salvation Although God the Son has done all that is required to reconcile the sinner to God, the sinner is reminded of their responsibility to seek the Lord while he may be found, to call upon him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thought, and let him, there it is, the word, return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. From God man has departed because of sin, and thus he is to return. And when he does return, he finds that God is willing and able and ready to pardon and to forgive. The prophet then comes to address his readership in the matter of the ways and of the thoughts of God compared to the ways and the thoughts of man in the verses 8 and 9. And Isaiah reminds them, as the heavens are higher than the earth, so God's ways are higher than our ways and God's thoughts, they're higher than our thoughts. However, it is the chapter's second return want to consider in this meeting as we continue to consider together some of the Bible's great returns. That return you'll read there in the verse number 11, but let me read the verse 10 to give you the context of the words that we have in the verse number 11. Isaiah writes, In Isaiah 55 verse 10, For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not hither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it to bring forth in bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth. It shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it. God speaks here about the return of His Word, that such will not return unto him void, but rather it will prosper in the thing that God has sent it for. And so for the remainder of this meeting, I want us simply to consider the return of God's word, the return of God's word. Now taking the words then of these verses as our text for today, one has to think about the picture that is employed by Isaiah the prophet, the picture that is employed. It is to the skies that God directs his people to look to in order that he might teach them a lesson concerning his word. For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not hither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it to bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater. So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth." If ever there was a text of scripture suited for this season of the year, springtime, it is certainly this text of scripture. For here we read about the coming down of the rain as well as the snow from heaven. And certainly, living in this province, you'll know that in these spring months, you could get both snow and rain, and sometimes on the same day. Such is the changeableness of our weather during the spring months. Spring showers, they come to water the earth. They cause the bud to swell, and then for those buds then to blossom. Those spring showers, April showers, March showers, they come to soften the hard ground. to prepare that ground for the sowing of the seed. And as much as we don't like rain, at times rain is necessary to bring moisture into the ground so that whenever that seed is sown, that that seed will then germinate, eventually grow, eventually flourish and bring forth a harvest. And here, Isaiah the prophet, he likens God's word to be like the rain and like the snow that comes from heaven down to earth. Now we need to ask ourselves the question then, why is this likeness? Why is it here before us? Why does God compare his word to be like the rain and like the snow? Well, I thought of a number of things. Can I say in the first place, both God's word and the rain and snow are divinely given. They are both divinely given. His word And these various forms of precipitation, they are divinely given. It is God who sends the snow and the rain. Regardless of what climate experts and weather forecasters might say, it is God who sends the snow and it is God who sends the rain. In the Sermon on the Mount, the Lord Jesus Christ Said in Matthew chapter 5 in the verse 45, he maketh his son to rise on the evil and on the good and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. It is the father who sends the rain to this world. In the days of Zechariah the prophet, the people were encouraged to pray to God in order that he might send them rain. Zechariah 10 verse 1, asked ye of the Lord rain in the time of the latter rain. So the Lord shall make bright clouds and give them showers of rain to every one grass in the field. The Lord shall make bright clouds and give them showers of rain. Jabez burns, he said this, every shower of rain depends on God's sovereign pleasure. None but God can raise the clouds. None but He can discharge their contents. It's no different whenever it comes to the snow. It is God again who sends the snow. Speaking of God and Psalm 147 in the verses 15 and 16, the psalmist, he said these words. He sendeth forth his commandment upon the earth. His word runneth very swiftly. He giveth snow like wool. He scatterth hoarfrost like ashes. And so the snow and the rain that comes down from heaven is that which is divinely given by God. God sends the rain and God sends the snow. They come to be sourced in God. Well, just as the rain and snow are divinely given, so God has divinely given to us His Word. All Scripture, Paul said, is given by inspiration of God. The Scriptures are God-breathed. They are God-given. This book is not the fabrication of man's ideas, but rather this book, the Word of God, is the product of the divine mind. God has given us His Word. It has been divinely given to us. Peter speaks of that in 1 Peter 1, verse 21. For the prophecy came not of old time by the will of man, In other words, man did not dream up the prophecy or the word of God, but rather holy men of God spake as they were moved, as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. And so this book is God's book. This Word, this Word has been authored by God, and this Word has been sent to us from God, and as such, it is exceeding useful to us, for it produces morality in the world. and it produces spirituality in the church, and it does good in all who come to read it and all who come to believe it. You see, the Word of God, it enlightens the dark. It instructs the ignorant. It comforts the despondent. It directs the lost. It encourages the seeking. It assures the weary soul. It warns the wayward. It threatens the unruly. It condemns the impatient. It invites the weary. It strengthens the weak. It consoles the dejected, it alarms the careless, accuses the indifference, confines the worldly wise, it cautions the ventured some, it reproves the heedless, it gives promises to the diligent, it frowns on the thoughtless, curses the profane, damns the hypocrite, urges the halting, exhorts the obedient, rewards the preserving, debases man, exalts the Savior, glorifies God, astonishes angels, confounds infidels, and delights perishing sinners, so wrote the Reverend James Smith. What a gift God has given to us in his inspired Word. What a gift God has given to us in the inspired Word of God, for therein we read about the incarnate Word of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. And so this, just like the snow and the rain that are divinely given by God in His sovereign purpose, so God has given us His Word, and therein there is the likeness. between the word of God and the snow and rain. In the second place, both the word of God and the rain and snow are like, because they are life producing. They are life producing. Precipitation in the form of rain and snow is what is required for a seed to germinate and to grow. You can plant a sunflower seed into a little pot, but unless you water that seed, that seed will never grow. It requires moisture it requires heat and other such things but without moisture that seed will continue to lie dormant in the ground doing nothing however whenever the rain descends and the moisture is deposited into the ground then that barren land and that barren landscape it begins to blossom And life begins to spring forth. And this is the picture that Isaiah is painting for us in the verse number 10. For as the rain cometh down in the snow from heaven and returneth not hither, but watereth the earth and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater. In other words, life comes whenever the rain descends and the moisture is administered to the seed lying in the ground. It is life producing. Life producing. And so it is when it comes to God's Word. God's Word descends into the heart of the spiritually dead sinner. That dead sinner is brought to new life in Jesus Christ. It is life producing, the Word of God. Jesus Christ said in John chapter 6 verse 33, it is the spirit that quickeneth, the flesh profiteth nothing. The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life. What I say, Jesus Christ said, will produce life where death reigns. God's word is described in the book of Hebrews as being quick living and powerful. and sharper than any two-edged sword. The sinner is brought to life through the preaching of the Word of God. And therein there is likeness between the rain and snow and the Word of God because both are life-producing. In the third instance, both the Word of God and rain and snow have a cleansing effect. They have a cleansing effect. A good deluge of rain. washes the yard when it's full of filth and dirt. When dirt is accumulated on the ground, the rain waters come, cleans the roads and washes away the filth and the dirt that has accumulated on the ground. And snow, whenever it falls, it acts as an organic air filter. It captures airborne contaminants through a process that is called wet depot. deposition. The snowflakes descend from the sky. They capture airborne pollutants, effectively removing them from the air and then depositing them on the ground. That's why you should never eat snow. Boys and girls, never eat snow because it's all full of pollutants. Don't be eating snow because it's all full of pollutants that have been airborne in the air and for it to fall onto the ground. Be careful not to eat snow, you might make yourself sick. You see, the snow acts as an air filter. Remember whenever snow happens, a snowfall happens and you go out after the snowfall event, what's the air like? There's a freshness to the air because the air has been cleansed. My grandmother always said the snowfall all brought the germs down to the ground and everyone was then sick after a good snowfall, and it's true. Because the snow, it filters the air. And there's this natural filtration process that causes an improvement in air quality when regard to a fall of rain or even to a fall of snow. There's a cleansing effect with regard to these two forms of precipitation. And God's Word has a cleansing effect. Writing in Ephesians chapter 5 and the verse 26, Paul expresses God's intention for the church, that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word. The instrument that God uses to sanctify, to make us holy. The instrument that God employs to cleanse His church is the Word of God. The Word read, the Word studied, the Word expounded, the Word preached, the Word lived out in the life of the child of God will lead to the cleansing of the life. Remember the question that was asked by the psalmist in Psalm 119 in the verse number 9, Wherewith shall a young man cleanse his way? The answer is given by taking heed thereto according to thy word. There's the marrying together of the word and the cleansing that comes about, the obedience to the word of God, this cleansing effect that takes place. Now just as a little aside, I was very interested with regard to what happened in the days of Ezra. in the days of Nehemiah. Remember, Ezra and Nehemiah, they ministered together. And during the time of the building of the walls of Jerusalem and the city, we read that Ezra came, the scribe, and he brought the book of the law of Moses. And it's very interesting to notice where the people stood. It tells us that he, Ezra the preacher, and the congregation, it tells us that they stood, they stood before the water gate. Very interesting. That must not be lost on us. Here we have a people before the water gate, and now they are before the Word of God. And the connection is that as they listened to the Word of God, and as they gave the sense, as they read the Book of the Law distinctly, and they gave the sense, and they caused them to understand the reading, therefore, as a result of that, the people experienced the sanctifying or the cleansing effect of the Word of God. And it happened before the water gate. This connection that is brought to our attention in the New Testament is laid down in the Old Testament that there's cleansing with regard to and by and through the preaching of God's Word. Before we move on to a second point here today, let me ask you a number of questions then with regard to this divinely given Word that you hold in your hand today. First of all, has God's Word, your exposure to it and the preaching of it, has it brought you to new life in Jesus Christ? We have spoken about how the Word brings life, but have you been brought to new life in Jesus Christ? Have you been quickened Has your deadened soul been quickened as the Word of God has been preached? Or do you sit in God's house without the Word of God, never impacting your life, never challenging your soul, never troubling your mind with regard to your lost sinful, spiritual state. Are you today still dead in your trespasses and sins? Has the Word of God ever, ever impacted your soul that it has brought you to new life in Jesus Christ? And if it has, and today you're a child of God, does the Word of God still quicken you? Does it enliven you? Does it inspire you? Does it fuel your faith in God? Does it propel you to go forth in your Christian life? If it doesn't, then we would do well to pray as the psalmist prayed in Psalm 119 verse 154. Quicken me according to thy word. Quicken me. Enliven me. Enliven me as a child of God. Let me ask you another question. Is the word of God cleansing you? The Word of God cleansing you. As you read it for yourself, I trust you do that. As you read it for yourself from day to day, as you study God's Word, as you sit under the preaching of the Word of God, does it reveal to you the things that must be put away from your life? Peter reminds us in 1 Peter 1, verse 21, that the purifying of the soul hinges on our obedience to the truth. The purifying of the soul hinges on our obedience to the truth. Are you obeying the truth of God as it is revealed to you in His Word? Oh, that God would give us the grace to submit to what He has to say to us from His Word. This Word, this divinely given Word, the Word of God. The picture that is here brought to our attention picture is with regard to the rain coming down from heaven, so God's Word has come down from heaven. Is this not a picture of our Savior? Oh, we're thinking here today about the spoken Word or the written Word of God, but what about the incarnate Word? Did He not come down from heaven to earth, just as the rain came down and the snow comes down, he came down to earth from heaven, the hymn writer said. Who is God and Lord of all? And what did he come down to do? He came down to bring life. I have come, he said, that ye might have life and that ye might have it more abundantly. This is what he came to do, and he came to sanctify his people, for he came to save his people from their sin. And so we have a picture of the coming down, the great incarnation, the condescension of our Savior. He came down, thank God for that, He came down. He came down in order that He might lift us up, that He might reconcile us to God and then that He would bring us on to Himself and on to home itself and glory itself, all who trust in Jesus Christ. He came down, the Word came down. dwelt among us we beheld his glory the glory is off the only begotten of the father full of grace and truth he came down to heaven from earth thank god for that a second point to consider then in these words is a proclamation that is expected a proclamation that is expected having directed our attention to the descending rain and snow an illustration of God's word. God now then proceeds to say in the verse number 11, so just like that, so shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth. God reminds the people of Isaiah's day that just as the precipitation comes down from heaven, so his word comes from heaven. It is a word that comes from the mouth of God. It comes forth from the mouth of God. And brethren and sisters, this is how we are to view the Word of God when it is faithfully preached. That it is not coming forth from the mouth of a man, but it is coming forth from the mouth of God himself. This is how we are to view it. I am not saying that the preacher is deified in any way and he becomes God. But he is sent by God to declare the word of God. And this is how we must receive it, brethren and sisters. We must receive it as it is of God. Maybe you go home and complain about the preacher. Well, if the preacher has preached biblically, Your issue is not with this preacher or any other preacher. Your issue is with God and with what he has revealed in his word. Thus all preaching must be biblical and not the thoughts of men. I was thinking just about Cornelius. Remember he got together his little family and others within his household over there in Acts chapter 10. I want to read to you what he said as Peter came in to speak to Cornelius and to his family. He says, immediately, therefore, I sent on to thee, this is Cornelius speaking, I sent on to thee, Peter, that thou hast well done, that thou art come. Now, therefore, we are all here present before God to hear all things that are commanded thee of God. Now that's the attitude that every assembly or every attendee to the house of God should have as they come to hear the word of God. We are before God. This is who we're before. We're before God today to hear. Are you here to hear? Are you listening? Are you here to hear? Or are you sleeping? Are you distracted? Are you here to hear God's word? We're here before God to hear all things that are commanded thee of God. That's what we want. That's what we desire. Are you here to hear God's word today? Well, Cornelius was there because he came to understand that it wasn't Peter that was going to say something. It was God through his servant that was going to say something. Beloved, it is that word. The Word that God has spoken, the Word that has come forth from God's mouth, this Word that is preserved for us in Holy Scripture, these are the words of God. And it is these words that are to come forth from our mouths whenever we come to engage in the work that God has entrusted to His church. There are those today and they say that God is still speaking. They say that God is still communicating. New revelation is being given via modern day prophets and through visions and dreams. However, we believe what the scriptures teach is that God has spoken by His Son. And He is not going to say anything more than what He has already said and what He has preserved for us in the Word of God. It is then for us to simply proclaim to others what God has said in His Word, adding nothing to it, taking nothing away from it. We are to take the Word that has already come forth from God's mouth and is preserved for us in the written Word of God, and we are to publish and we are to proclaim it to the world. That's our job, that's our responsibility. To preach the Word of God. The Word of God. Mr. Spurgeon, he said, the Word of God is like a lion. You don't have to defend a lion, he said. All you have to do is let the lion loose. and the lion will defend itself. And simply what we do is let the lionless, the lion of God's Word. We simply want to preach it. We simply want to declare it. We simply want to propagate it. That's all that this building is for. And if there's anything else, then it must, it must stop. This is a meeting place. We come to hear the Word of God. The children hear it in Sunday school and in children's meeting. The young people hear it in our youth fellowship. They come to hear the Word of God. The Psalmist David, he got the order right. He wrote these words in Psalm 61 verse 11. The Lord gave the Word. Great was the company of those that published it. He gave the Word. They simply published it. That's all they did. It's not for the church to dream up its own message. It is for the church to declare God's message. That's simply it. To a world that is perishing in its sin. We are in the publishing department. We are not in the authoring department. And so if you hear someone, sadly, on YouTube or on some of these so-called religious God channels and things like that saying that they got a word from God this morning as they stood showering or as they were out gardening or something like that, forget about it. Forget about it. Run from such a ministry. Run from it. God has spoken in His Word and that's it. That is it. That's where we'll find the Word of God. It is for us to recount simply to others what God has already said, and that is it. Now, do you do that? Do I do that? Those people that God in his providence draws across our pathway from day to day, do we share with them the Word of life? Do we share with them the word of God? Do we share with them the gospel? Let all preachers and Sunday school teachers and Bible class leaders and children and youth workers and open air speakers and evangelists, in fact, let every Christian understand that if we are to see the work of God advance, then we need to make sure that the word of God advances. That's how it'll be done. The work of God advances when the word of God advances. Every revival sees to the return to the preaching of the word, every revival. Sadly there has been a setting aside of God's word. And we need to see it reestablished again. Now whenever we consider the word that has already come forth from the mouth of God and the success that has accomplished the going forth of that word, surely then, brethren and sisters, it should cause us to throw our entire weight behind the proclamation of God's word in this place. Our confidence in the going forth of God's Word is strengthened whenever we come to consider when God's Word went forth in creation. Think of what was done then. God spoke and all things were created. Psalm 148 verse 5, He commanded and they were created. Psalm 33 verse 6, By the word of the Lord were the heavens made, And all the hosts of them by the breath of his mouth he spoke, Let there be light. And there was light. He spoke all things into existence. You think about what happened when God's word went forth in that stormy sea in Galilee. Fearing that they were about to go down with the storm-battered ship, the disciples, they went to the Savior, who's lying on the pillow and sleeping in the hinder side of the boat. And they made their appeal to the Son of God that He would do something lest they perish. And Camelot, Camelot, the master, we're told, Mark 4, verse 39, if you want the reference, the master arose, and he rebuked the wind, and he said unto the sea, Peace, be still. Mark tells us that the wind ceased and there was a great calm. We think about God's word as it went forth at the mouth of Lazarus' grave. Having been dead for four days already and his body now stinking, the Son of God stood at the entrance of Lazarus' grave and he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth! And that's exactly what happened. Lazarus came forth, he emerged from the grave at the command of Christ. The word that issued forth from God's mouth, a word that created worlds, a word that calms storms, a word that raised the dead is the word that is able to save your son. and is able to save your daughter, and is able to save your husband, and is able to save your wife, and is able to save your loved ones, and your work colleagues, and your neighbors, let's get them under the Word. Let's get them under the Word. And if we can't do that, because they simply refuse to come to hear God's Word, then let's make that Word known to them as opportunities arise from our own mouths. speaking the word to them. And so there is a picture here, there is a proclamation. Finally, and very quickly, a prosperity that is envisaged as the word of God goes forth, whether that be through the medium of a preacher as he preaches that word or through the printed page in the form off a copy of scripture or a gospel track God envisages that his word will prosper that it will accomplish now don't miss it it will accomplish what God intends to accomplish through it look there at the verse 11 so shall my word that be go forth out of my mouth It shall not, it shall not. Now you need to underline it because your heart and your unbelief will say, but I go out and I witness to others and I preach and nothing happens, but God says that it shall not return on to him void, but it shall, it shall accomplish that which I please and it shall, it shall prosper in the thing where to I have sent it. Now let me add a little word of instruction and caution. lest you assume that the going forth of God's Word will always result in a person's salvation. There are many people who come to hear God's Word, and you're one of them. And I speak to you who are not yet converted. You're one of these people. You have heard the Word of God, and as yet you are still unconverted. You see, the going forth of God's Word, it does one of two things. It is as Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 2, verse 16, to the one, it is a savor of death unto death. And on to the other it is a saver of life, on to life. You see, the gospel, the preaching of the word, produces different effects in the lives of those who hear it. To some it is a saver of death, on to death. Many are hardened when they come to hear the word of God preached. They reject the truth, and they will not submit to the teaching of God's word. And then there are others, and it becomes a saver of life, on to life. In other words, It confers spiritual life to those who are dead in their trespasses and in sins. But this is the fact that you need to remember, child of God, that whenever God's Word goes forth, it does something. Always. It always does something. As the Word of God is preached, it does something. God says that it will not return on to him void. You see, He sends out the Word, that Word is published by us, and He then sees to its return. It returns to Him again. It returns back to God. Now, it may not accomplish what we would want it to accomplish, but it always, don't miss it, it always accomplishes what God intended and what God purposed for it to accomplish. The Reverend George Rawlinson, he said, every word that proceeds from God's mouth has an end, but that end is known only to him. And it may often be that he alone knows of its accomplishment. Its accomplishment is always with respect to the intention full, complete, such as satisfies him. You know, there are many times that God hides from us what He does with His Word. And then there are other times that He allows us to simply see. He allows us to simply see what He is doing with that Word. But regardless of whether we see what God is doing with His Word or not, in this we can be confident that God will prosper the going forth of His Word, and it will accomplish what He has purposed for it to do. The American Presbyterian theologian, G.T. Schade, told this true story of a young man who was given a gospel track by a missionary. After the missionary had left that young man, that young man, he threw that gospel track into the fire. But as it curled up in the flames, that young man's eye caught the words that were written on that gospel track, heaven and earth shall pass away. My word shall not pass away. As those words turned to ashes in the fire, they turned to fire into that young man's mind, so much so that Shed recounts that that young man found no rest until he found his rest in the blood and in the righteousness of Jesus Christ. God took the word Now did that missionary who gave that man that gospel tract, did that missionary ever find out about that young man's salvation? I doubt he ever did. But God prospered his word. God prospered it. And surely this promise in Isaiah chapter 55 ought to encourage every child of God who shares the word of God to keep on sharing God's word. Father, mother in this place today, keep teaching your little ones the word of God. Keep teaching them. But God promises that his word shall not return on to him void. You see, you granny and grandas, whenever those little children, those grandchildren of yours come to visit, Let me encourage you to share with them the word of God, because God has promised that his word shall not return on to him void. And you see, you who are discouraged as a Sunday school teacher, you keep teaching your class the word of God. Because God has said, he has promised that his word shall not return on to him void. And if you do a little bit of preaching, maybe you're a minister or an evangelist, keep on preaching the word because God has promised that he will not allow his word to return on to him void. As we come to share the word, we can be assured that it will not return to God without first accomplishing that which he has purposed and intended for that word to do. God has said that it shall accomplish that which he pleases, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto he sends it. Oh, that these days would see then a prospering of his word in the lives of the ungodly who come to hear the word of God, and also that it will prosper in our lives, as we as God's people sit and listen and hear the Word of God as it is preached, that we would know its sanctifying effect, that we would know its enlivening effect, that we will go forth today with courage and with renewed faith, that this is what God has promised to do with His Word. So let's bind ourselves into this. Let's constrain ourselves into this. This is what God is going to do with His Word. So let's get it, the preaching of it, and the publishing of it, and the getting of it out into this community, and far beyond, to the regions beyond, the going forth of the Word of God. And as we do that, we leave what He purposes to do with Him. We leave it with Him. Of course, we would love every person who hears the Word of God to be impacted by it. We would love every sinner to be saved when they come to hear the preaching of the Word. But that may not be God's intention. We must not usurp the pleas of God. We must not infringe in the areas that are left to God. That is God's doing. He will prosper it. He will take it forward. He will do what He intended to do. Brethren and sisters, God will do something with this Word today that has just been preached. This has come from the mouth of God to you today. God wants to say to you today about His Word. Oh, that you, if you know not Christ, that you will come to know Him who is the incarnate Word, the One who came into this world to save you from your sin. And he did so by his death upon the cross. Come to him today. Seek the Lord while he may be found. Call upon him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, the unrighteous man his thoughts. Let him return unto the Lord and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. May God bring you to himself today. And may us as God's people, may we continue to share the word of God. Let's seek the Lord together in prayer. Our loving Father, we now pray that this word that has been spoken Lord, before it returns back to thee, Lord, that it will accomplish that which thou hast purposed, and it will do that which thou hast pleased to do with it. Lord, I don't know who's here today. Maybe they're discouraged. Maybe, Lord, they're a parent, and they've taught their children in the things of God, and they took down the Scriptures, and they gave themselves to the task that was entrusted to them as a parent. to school them and to catechize them in the things of God. And now they're wandering far from God. Oh Lord, may they pray over this promise. Oh God, we pray that thou will take that word and bring it to life. We thank thee for that even which we heard in the prayer meeting. before we come out, that man that has trusted in Christ, that once went to Sunday school and has come to faith in Jesus Christ, how did it happen? The Word, the Word did it. The Word brought him to Christ. Lord, the hearing of it, the convicting through it, the Word brought him to Christ. And Lord, we're glad of that. And we're praying, Lord, that you will multiply that. And for all our Sunday school teachers, they look at their class and they're so small, and they're wondering, are their children even listening? Oh, I thank thee, Lord, for Sunday school teachers that taught me the word of God. Lord, our men who preach. Lord, help, dear God, every minister who's discouraged today. And Lord, they're thinking about resigning the ministry. They see nothing, Lord. Oh, God, may they land on this promise. May they come to rest on it. May they come to ground themselves upon it. I'm simply declaring what the Lord has told me to declare, and thereby, knowing the mind of God, then I can claim this promise that God will prosper this word in whatever way He intends to do that. I simply leave it with Him. If it is to the hardening of the sinner, so let it be. If it is to the softening of the heart, so let it be. May the will of God be done. Lord, use thy word today. Bless our waiting souls. Encourage every heart we ask. Take us to our homes in safety. Bring us back to hear the word again preached tonight. Lord, may we come to love the preaching of the word. Lord, we pray that the word as we listen to it will be to the enlightening of our eyes and to the encouragement of our souls and to the blessing of our homes and family. We commit now all to thee. We pray that the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with all of thy believing people until the Lord returns, or he calls us from the scene of time, and then forever we'll be with the Lord.