Beautiful Promises
Isaiah 52:1-12
August 9-10, 2025
We are in this section of Isaiah that started really in Chapter 40. In this section, it's the theme or the promises. Beautiful promises for Israel when they will need them, there's going to be trouble ahead. That's the point. There's trouble ahead. He's prophetically declared. There's great storm clouds on the horizon. Oh, you have no idea this trouble that's ahead. When you get into that trouble, you're going to need promises to hold on to. Of course, we understand he told them clearly, "Babylon's army would come and defeat Jerusalem and take the people captive there to remain in exile in Babylon, those 70 long, difficult years."
Year after year, they would wait, waiting, desperate for God's hand to move. Isaiah wrote, more than a 100 years before they needed these promises, God gave these promises to them. These promises would strengthen them, encourage them. If they would only take hold, you got to believe. You see, promises are only going to strengthen if you believe. You got to hold on to them. In this difficult world that we're living in today, we need too. We need promises, and we need to hold on to them.
Only going to help you if you're going to believe them. You got to hold on to them. Everyone needs to hold on to promises. In Chapter 48, just a few chapters back, He said this, "Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, the Holy one of Israel, I am the Lord, your God, who teaches you to increase, to gain, to profit, who leads you in a way that you should go. If only you had paid attention to those words that I had given you, your well-being would have been like a river, your righteousness would have been like the waves of the sea." If you only would have hold on. It reminds me of that hymn, "Oh what peace we often forfeit, oh what needless pain we bear, all because we do not carry everything to God in prayer."
If they had only listened to God, it would have saved them so much trouble. I tell you what, there's a lot of people that could apply it to today. If only they listened. God gives some great principles in His work. God gives great wisdom. If only people would listen, "Oh, what peace people forfeit, what needless pain, what needless troubles." God wrote these promises, for when they get into these troubles, then, hold on. He knew that they would come to a point when they would doubt. They're going to doubt God's love. Trouble has a way of stirring doubt in people.
He knew that there would come a point when they would say, "Oh, the Lord has forsaken me. The Lord has forgotten me." He knew they were going to say that. Knowing what they would say, 150 years before they said it, He wrote this, "I will never forget you." Read it, it's in the scroll. I wrote it a 150 years ago. "I will never forget you. I have inscribed you in the poems of my hand." Later, He says, "But I'm not the one who forgot. I'm the one who comforts you." Who are you that you are afraid of man, your enemy? Have you forgotten? The power in my arm, have you forgotten? The greatness of my name, have you forgotten? I'm not the one who forgot, in other words. It's a great word for us. Have you forgotten? Never forget. Never forget all that God has done.
In the Book of Revelation, it says, "Remember your first love." Do the deals you did at the first. Remember. Never forget. Do you remember when you first came to the Lord and the excitement you had for the Word, and you just couldn't wait to get into the Word, and the excitement you had to worship, couldn't wait to get to church? Do you remember? Did you forget? You're taking God for granted now? You're doubting God's love now? No, never take God for granted. May we never be like those who become so comfortable and so distant that they take God for granted. I understand.
We all understand that things can change over time. Marriage can become routine or that job that was first exciting can become mundane. Things change over time. We understand. When you have children, the first one is so, so special. The first time you are a parent, it's like, "Oh, everything's so wonderful." You bring flashcards to the hospital because your kid's going to be so smart.
Everything they ever do or say, you write in a book. Everything, "Oh, he's so cute. Write it down." You're so meticulous about everything's safe around them. After the third or fourth one, it's like, "Hey, Billy's up in the tree. He'll be all right."
Things change. You take things for granted, but may we never take God for granted. Never take God's love for granted. Never forget all that He's done for you. We sing a worship song called Goodness of God, and it speaks to that. Let me quote some of the lyrics because they speak to it. It says, "I love you, Lord." What a great way to start a song.
"I love you, Lord, for your mercy never fails me. All my days I've been held in your hands. From the moment that I wake up until I lay my head, I will sing of the goodness of God. All my life," there's the chorus, "all my life, you have been faithful. All my life, you have been so, so good. With every breath that I am able, I will sing of the goodness of God. I love your voice. You have led me through the fire. In the darkest night, you are close like no other. I've known you as a father, I've known you as a friend, and I have lived in the goodness of God." Then the chorus, "All my life."
I remember this song so very well. It was one of the most beautiful songs to me. We sang at our daughter's memorial. I just sat there and just abided in the love of God. God, you've always been so good to me. All my life, you have been faithful. All my life, you've been so, so good. With every breath that I am able, I will sing of the goodness of God. It's a great song. I never forget. Look back and you'll see God says, "Look back and you'll see I've always been faithful."
God says, "And now you look back and you'll see I've always been faithful. Now I say to you, I'm going to do something new. Altogether new." Let's read it. Isaiah 52. We're beginning again in verse 1. He starts out the chapter, "Awake, awake." In other words, "Wake up, wake up." Reminds me of back when I was young, there used to-- Late night, there was a commercial where Tom Peterson would get on, and he's tapping on your television screen. He go, "Wake up, wake up." Anybody remember this? Tom Peterson.
I. Awaken Your Soul to Revival
Somebody tell him, I mentioned his name. "Wake up," is what he's saying. "Wake up, people. Wake up. Clothe yourself with strength." He's speaking to them. They're in trouble, they're in exile, they've been oppressed. "Wake up, clothe yourself with strength, now, man." Notice, clothe yourself with beautiful garments. "Oh, Jerusalem, holy city, for the uncircumcised and the unclean will come no more into you. Shake yourself from the dust. Rise up, O captive Jerusalem. Loosen yourself in the chains around your neck, O captive daughter of Zion. For thus says the Lord, you were sold for nothing."
In other words, "They stole you, and you will be redeemed without money. I'm not paying them. For thus says the Lord God," He says, "Notice, interesting. My people, they went down at the first in the Egypt to reside there. In other words, that was the first great oppression. The Assyrian oppressed them without cause. "Now, therefore, what do we have here?" Declares the Lord, "Seeing that my people have been taken away without cause, Babylon, you did nothing to them." Again, the Lord declares, "Those who rule
over them. My people, they howl, and my name is continually blasphemed. All day long, they blasphemed my name there in Babylon. My people, therefore, they will know my name. I'm going to do something beautiful, new. My people will know my name. In that day, I am the one who says to them. Here I am. Behold, here I am." It's beautiful. Then verse seven is famous. Paul made it famous. "How lovely on the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news."
There is good news. "How beautiful are the feet of him who announces peace, who brings good news of happiness, who announces salvation, who says to Zion, your God reigns." They're going to shout it out and the messenger's going to come. Your God reigns, people. "Listen," verse eight, "you watchmen, lift up their voices. They shout joyfully together." They see you. They will see with their own eyes when the Lord visit our Zion. Good news, help is on the way.
God's going to do something altogether beautiful, and altogether new. "Break forth shout joyfully together, you waste places of Jerusalem. The Lord has comforted his people. He has redeemed Jerusalem. The Lord has bared his Holy arm." That's an expression he's used it before. Again, it's an expression of like a mighty man who's about ready to do something mighty. He rolls up his sleeves and He bares his arm. It's like, "We're going to do this thing. Yes, we're going to do this thing." Okay, He's-- Yes, those are some guns. He's going to do some things.
He says, "The Lord has bared His holy right arm." That's the idea. "He did it in the sight of all the nations." The nations will know that God did this great mighty thing, that "All the ends of the earth may see the salvation of our God." God did it, so "Depart from there, depart from there. Go out from there." As you're departing, "Touch nothing unclean. Go out from the midst of her, leave Babylon, but purify yourself as you're doing it, you, who carry the vessels of the Lord, but you will not go out in haste."
You're not going to sneak out trying to run, oh, no, no. You're not going to go out as fugitives, no, no. The Lord is going to go before you. The God of Israel will be your real God. You're going to walk out in a procession of triumph. He always leads us in his triumph in Christ Jesus, the Scripture says.
These are the verses we want to look at. Of course, we're looking at the other verses at the Wednesday service. I want to start with verse one where he says, "Awaken," and he means awaken your soul to revival, that's what he means. Wake up from your spiritual slumber. Be aware, shake off the spiritual apathy that comes from being so worn down, oppressed, discouraged, heavy laden and they're just so discouraged. He's like trying to screw them up from their discouragement. Shake it off. Ephesians 5:14, "Wake up, O Sleeper." Paul wrote, "Wake up, O sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you."
That means glory, shine, glory. Wake up and your glory will be revealed. He says, verse one, "And clothe yourself with strength," because they felt like they were powerless. They were oppressed. They were exiles, they were fugitives in a foreign land. In their discouragement, it had been going on so long, they had been worn down. They were just so discouraged. "Strengthen yourself, clothe yourself with strength," he means by that. Let your faith arise to revival.
A. Clothe yourself in beautiful garments
God's going to do something altogether new and altogether beautiful. Notice verse one, and two, where he says, then, "And clothe yourself with beautiful garments, O People of Jerusalem." I love that. Shake off the dust, rise up, loosen yourself from the chains that have been around your neck. See in the verses just before this, in Chapter 51, God said that their tormentors who had been walking all over them, who made them lie down in the street, made their backs like something to walk on.
He says, "They're going to drink the chalice of my anger." In other words, God is going to settle accounts with their tormentors. Then he's going to say, "Now, you, wake up. Wake up your souls to revival, the new faith and see what God is going to do. Something altogether new, altogether, beautiful." Notice, beautiful garments. I will do something beautiful for you and in you. They used to lie down in the dirt. That's the idea.
Tormentors walked all over them. No more, God's going to replace their filthy shame with beautiful garments of glory. The contrast, God's going to do something altogether new, altogether beautiful, altogether glorious. Interestingly, in the last chapter, he said something similar in Isaiah 51:3. He says, "God will comfort all the waste places of Zion and make your wilderness like Eden. He will make her desert," notice, "like the garden of the Lord." You got to just love the imagery.
He says here, God's going to do something altogether beautiful. He's going to change. He's going to make the desert like the garden of the Lord, and "Joy and gladness will be found in her and thanksgiving, and the sound of melody." When God does a work on your soul, when God does something glorious on your soul, that's the result of it, right? It's like the garden of the Lord. It's really a beautiful image, poetry of beauty. Can you imagine the garden of the Lord? There are many beautiful gardens in the world, and they're stunning in their beauty, famous.
They're the Keukenhof Gardens in the Netherlands, the Butchart Gardens in Victoria, Canada. We honeymooned there. It's a beautiful place. The Versailles gardens in France, the Kirstenbosch Gardens of South Africa, world famous gardens, but I submit to you that none of them compare to the glory and the beauty of the garden of the Lord. That's what He's giving you for an image. Do you know what God's going to do in your life? Do you know how God is going to do something on your soul that's so beautiful that is compared to the garden of the Lord?
This is why He says, "Wake up." Many people don't understand what God wants to do in their lives. God, they don't understand. They've been so heavily oppressed. They've been so weighted down clouds over them for so long. They need to wake up, shake it off, wake up to it. God's going to do something so beautiful. He wants you to see it. He wants you to see how beautiful it is so that you would desire it. I want that, I want that. Do that glorious beautiful thing.
God will turn their dirt and their shame into something so glorious. It's beyond their imagination. Whenever I think of this, it reminds me of the story of the prodigal son because it is a story of contrast. Many of you know the story in Luke 15. The son went to his father and asked for his inheritance early. He had his inheritance, and he had a lot of money. He went into the city and he spent it all on the parties, worldly living, living it up, alcohol and women and parties and he spent it all. He wasted all of it.
When he is out of money, a famine comes. He can't even get a job. Finally, he does get a job, but it's the worst possible job for a Jew. Feeding swine, pigs, got to sleep in the barn. It gets worse. He becomes envious because the pigs have food and he doesn't. He comes to his senses and he says, "My father's servants are treated better than this. I'm going to go to my father and I'm going to say, "Father, I'm not worthy to be your son. I'm not coming home to be your son. I'm not worthy of that. I just need a job." Can I just have a
job? I'll sleep in the barn. I'll sleep with the other servants. I'm not worthy of being your son anymore. Could you just hire me?"
He's got his speech, and he heads for home. Scripture says his father sees him a long way off. I think we call this story the story of the prodigal son. I think it's the story of the father. It's more about the father. It says the father sees him from a long way off, which suggests he's been looking for him. He's like, "Is that my son? That is my son?" It says he runs down the road, and he falls on his son and kisses him.
Now, what's not in the story, because it didn't happen, is the father didn't do this. He didn't run down the road and then fall upon his son and go, "Whoa, whoa, you stink. What have you been doing? I'm sorry, you smell like pig manure. What have you been doing? Look at you, you're filthy. You are dirty." It didn't happen that way. That's not what the father did. It says the father ran on the road, and he fell upon his son, and he kissed him. He's holding him. He smells like pig manure. He's holding his son.
His son has this speech already. "Father, I've sinned against heaven and in your sight. I'm not worthy to be your son. I just need a job." The father interrupts him. He says, "Quick, bring the robe and put it on my son. Bring sandals for his feet. Bring the family ring, put it on his finger, for this son of mine was lost and has been found, this son of mine was dead but is made alive again. Kill the fatted calf. We're going to celebrate." That's a beautiful story because it shows the heart of the father.
Instead of shame, I'm going to cover you with a beautiful robe. That's when it becomes personal because the Scriptures says for you and for me that when you stand before the throne of the great Almighty at the end of the age, if you have received Jesus Christ into your heart and into your life, you will not be standing there before the throne of the great Almighty wearing the filthy garments of shame. This is the glory of good news.
You'll be standing there that great day wearing a beautiful robe. It's the robe of righteousness, of the righteousness of God that is found in Christ Jesus, our Lord. He gave you that robe so that you can wear it on that glorious day. That's a beautiful picture. Can we give God praise and glory? He's done right.
It says that in Isaiah 61:10, "I will greatly rejoice in the Lord. My soul will exult in my God, for He has clothed me with garments of salvation, and He has wrapped me with the robe of righteousness." Then notice this next section. "The name of the Lord is glorious." Notice verses five and six. What do we have here? "My people have been taken without cause, and those who rule over them, they howl, and they blaspheme my name all day long, but my people, they will know my name. In that day, I, the Lord, and the one who's speaking, I will say, "Here I am."
B. The name of the Lord is glorious
This is another one of those contrasts. God's name was used to be blasphemed all day long. The Babylonians would blaspheme the great name, they blasphemed it. Jews had to listen to this. They were the oppressed ones. They were tormented. They had to listen to it all day long. They had to listen as these Babylonians blasphemed. He says, "Oh, God's going to rescue his people. Help is on the way, and no longer will they have to endure hearing God's name being blasphemed all day long."
I tell you what, we live in a day-to-day, we hear God's name blasphemed. It's all over the internet and television and movies. It's all over our culture. Their name is blasphemed all day long. Anybody agree with me? There will come a day. There will come a day. It says there will come a day when they will know my name, and in that day, behold, they will hear, "Here I am." They will know the beauty of that great name.
There used to be a worship song. We would sing. "Your name is like honey on my lips. Your name is beautiful. I love your name." When Moses stood before the burning bush on that mountain and asked God, "When I go to your people, they're going to say, "What is his name?" What should I tell them? God says, "You tell them my name is Jehovah or Yahweh or Yahwah. That is my name." You have a name. My name is Richard. You have a name. It's personal. It's your name.
God has a name. Many people don't think in those terms. God has a name. My name is Richard. He has a name. Names have meaning. If you look up, your name has meaning. Every name has some meaning to it. God's name has meaning to it. It's a very personal name. It means all that I am, I will be to you. His meaning to it. That name contained the power of His presence and the promise of His heart for His people. There's something about the name. It's beautiful. It's a powerful name.
When I was studying this, I was thinking about a time when I was a boy and I had this dream. Dreams are powerful when you still remember them when you're old. In this dream, there was a dark, evil presence in this dream. We lived on the country, and in this imagery, behind the chicken coop, was this dark presence that moved. I couldn't tell what it was, but something dark moved fearfully, evil. Inside of me was rising this great fear.
I felt in my heart that if I could just say the name, Jesus, in my dream, if I could just say the name. When you're dreaming, you're not speaking, you're dreaming. I couldn't say it. Do you know what I mean with this? You're dreaming, but you can't actually physically talk. This dark presence, this evil, is getting nearer and nearer, and is rising need for me to say the name Jesus. Finally, I called out Jesus. Everybody in the house thought, "That's a dream." As soon as I called out Jesus, this evil thing left. I had this resounding peace and learned something powerful about the name of Jesus in that dream.
I think God reveals things to us. There's something about the name, something beautiful in the name, powerful in the name. You know how tragic, how dishonoring when people use God's name as an expletive. That's how blaspheming happens. They use his name as an expletive, like a cuss word. They'll do that with Jesus, his name. Something will happen. "Oh, Jesus Christ." They mean it like a cuss word.
Why do people do that? Notice that when people hit their thumbs with a hammer, they don't say, "Oh, Buddha" or "Hare Krishna." They don't say that. No. They want to use God's name in vain. They want to say, "Jesus" and "Jesus Christ." Why do they want to do that? Why don't they say, " oh Buddha"? There's something about that name.
That name, it's that name. That name makes them very uncomfortable. They can't say His name other than that. They can't say His name with honor. They can't say His name with glory. They've got to put it under their heel and step on it and grind it like they were putting out a cigarette butt. God says, "All day long, my people, they hear it, they are blasting my name. There will be a day, there will be a day, there will be a day when my people will hear my name in glory and in beauty. Ah, that day will be glorious."
You know the heart and the mouth are connected. Jesus said this, the heart and the mouth are connected. Luke 6:45, love quoting it. "The good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth what's good because the heart and the mouth are connected." It's also true that the evil man, out of the evil treasure, will bring forth what's evil because of the mouth and the heart. He says the mouth speaks for that which fills the heart. When you treasure His name, you speak glory in His name, you know that His name is power. You know that His name has meaning.
You know that His name has beauty, and you know that His name will be high and lifted up. There will be a day. Philippians 2:9-11. "God highly exalted Him and bestowed on Him the name, which is above every other name, so that at the name of Jesus, every knee will bow." There will be a day that at the name, when His name is spoken, every knee will take a bow of those who are in earth and on earth and under the earth. On that great day, every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father."
II. How Lovely is Good News
Ah, that's a glorious day. Amen. Amen. Amen. He says in verse 7, "Oh, I got good news." How lovely is good news? Wake up and listen to some good news. "How lovely on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who announce peace, who bring good news of happiness, who announce salvation, who says to Zion, "Your God reigns." God will send such good news that the messenger who carries the good news is himself made beautiful by the news. The Apostle Paul quotes these verses in Romans Chapter 10. Paul loved quoting from Isaiah. He quotes these verses right here in Romans 10. You can go turn to Ro-- Don't do it now, but you can turn to Romans 10 and read it.
In Romans 10. He says, "And that good news, that altogether new, altogether beautiful thing, is the good news of Jesus Christ." All the way back you can see, and you'll see it again in the next chapter, God has been pointing to a glorious, beautiful, revealing His Son will come, and He will be king of kings and Lord of lords. How beautiful, because His grace is still amazing. For the Jews in Babylon, the good news of happiness was the news of salvation. God would redeem His people from oppression and captivity and bring them home.
A. His grace is still amazing
In ancient times, messengers traveled on foot, oftentimes over long distances, difficult terrain, and they would deliver news. Their arrival of the messenger was eagerly anticipated. The watchmen would wait on the wall to wait to see their messenger to bring good news. See, good news of happiness is beautiful. It brings joy to those who receive it and transforms those who hold it dear.
I was recently reading the story of John Newton, who wrote famous words of "Amazing Grace." His story is that his mother died when he was a boy, and he loved his mother. It was a great tragedy to him. They sent him away to his father, who worked as a captain on a ship. He became a sailor at 11. Soon he took on the ways of a sailor, and it ruined him. He started cussing and acting vile. After a while, his superiors would correct him. You've heard this saying that so-and-so cusses like a sailor. When you're a sailor and you get corrected for your cussing, you know that you're way bad.
He was so bad that he would make up words to make him even more vile. He was just a wretch. One day he's on a ship heading back home, and they encounter a storm of epic proportions. A great wave came and swept a man overboard who was standing where he was standing only moments before. It jarred him. He lashed himself to a post and worked the pump. The captain came by, he says to the captain, "If this doesn't work, God help our souls." After his turn at the pump, he took his turn at the wheel.
For 11 hours, he stood at the wheel thinking of those words, "Would God have mercy on me?" He's facing death. Would God have mercy on me? For 11 hours he thought of those words. Would he? When he finally came into port, he says, the first thing he did was he went to a church and he fell on his knees. "Have mercy on me now, God, have mercy on me now." He's the one who wrote Amazing Grace. "How sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me." See, that is good news. Those who take hold of it are transformed by that good news.
I remember many years ago I was in Russia, and our team was going door to door, and I had a translator, an interpreter. I was going door to door, knocking and talking, sharing, inviting people to our evening meeting. A military man opened the door in his uniform, invited us in. "Oh, Americans, I want to talk." We're talking, and I'm telling him about the gospel, and he was resisting. I said, "What is keeping you from receiving the good news?" He said, "For me to respond, God would have to send someone specifically to me to tell me what he wants me to do."
I said, "God sent me all the way from America to knock on your door, to sit in your chair, to drink your tea, and to tell you this word. I have a word to you from God." He smiled. "You do?" "I do, I have a word to you. God gave a word to you, and I'm going to tell you what it is." He said, "Really? What is it?" I said, "I beg you in the name of Jesus Christ to be reconciled to God. I am His ambassador, and I have a message to you. He's asking you, He's entreating you to be reconciled because you're going to die in your sins if you don't."
I said, "Come tonight. We have a meeting." He came. I gave him a message. I'll never forget it. He came wearing his uniform.
When I gave the invitation, he stood up. I remember he was over here. He stood up and he had this big smile on his face. He raised his hand, he stood up, "I see you." I met with him afterwards. He was beaming, I gave him a Bible, I prayed with him. Good news transforms people. God is still on the move today. Do you believe it? Let's give Him praise. Exactly right. Amen.
Friends tell friends good news, that's what friends do. When something good happens, you want to tell people. If you see something good, you want to tell people. Friends tell friends good news. How beautiful are the feet of them who has good news? [silence] I remember the first time I was at Fred Meyer, and I tasted cotton candy grapes. Has anybody not tasted cotton candy grapes? Oh, you have no idea.
B. Depart and leave Babyon behind
They are so good. I tasted cotton candy grapes, and this is the best grape I've ever had in my life. I had to start calling my kids, "I'm at Fred Meyer, you got to taste these grapes." I bought a big bag of them, and they met me at the house. Everybody's like, "Oh, yes, those are good." Friends tell friends good news. Last thing. He says, "I want you to depart and leave Babylon behind." Notice, come out, "Depart from there, but touch nothing unclean, you who carry the vessels of the Lord."
Good news of happiness is that God has made a way for sinners to be saved. Babylon in the Scriptures represents the world and all its worldliness, sin and all its sinfulness. In the same way that he called Israel out of Babylon, he's calling these people today out of the Babylon of the world and all its worldliness. He says, "When you come out of Babylon, touch nothing unclean." In other words, leave Babylon behind.
It reminds me, when God saved Israel out of Egypt, that was amazing, but then getting Egypt out of Israel was a whole nother problem, because they brought Egypt with them in their hearts. No, you're going to leave it behind, you who are the vessels of the Lord. God says, 2 Corinthians 4:7, "We have this treasure in earthen vessels that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not of ourselves. We have this treasure, this glory in earthen vessels." He means us. We're earthen vessels, a clay pot.
As I said before, the older we get, I suppose the more we look like clay pots, that's true. We carry glory, and when you are carrying the glory, then come out of Babylon and leave Babylon behind. 2 Corinthians 6, what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God. Do you not know you are called the temple of the living God? Just as God says, I will dwell in them. I will walk among them. I will be their God, they will be my people. Come out.
He's quoting Isaiah 52. Paul loves quoting Isaiah. Come out from them, be separate. Do not touch what is unclean. I will welcome you and I will be a father to you, and you will be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord, Almighty. It's beautiful, amen.
We see a worship song called Good Good Father. A good father, I will be a father to you. A good father fills you with hope and love, with wisdom, and good father speaks vision of better things into our children's lives. I'll be a father to you. We'll have something glorious between us. I'll be a father to you. When I think of this, I think of our oldest daughter, of course, Nicole, who died, murdered when she was 29.
The night before she died, we had a cold drink together. It was an August day. We're coming up on the anniversary. We just sat and talked about life, about love, about family, about children, about God. There was just something between us. Everybody knew it. There was just something special. I would say that about all my kids. There's just something that we have. God says, "I will be a father to you and you will be sons, daughters to me. We'll have something beautiful, glorious. Come out from Babylon. Enter into the glory. Draw nearer to the beauty, something special I want to do."
Lord, we love you and thank you. What can we say? We delight in that which you do. Do glorious things in us. Like the garden of the Lord, do glorious things, wondrous things. Church, how many people would say that to the Lord today? "I want you to do something beautiful, something glorious. There's something between us that's special, that's beautiful. I want you to be my father in a beautiful, beautiful way."
You raise your hand if that's what you would say to the Lord. "I want you to be my father in a very beautiful way, wonderful way, a special way that we would share it. That's what I want, God." Lord, I love you. Thank you for everyone who's raised their hands as a cry of their heart to say, "I want that and I desire that." Lord, we honor you today in Jesus' name, and everyone said. Can we give God praise and glory?