The Beautiful Feet

Hello my friends Michael Yousef here. I just wanted to thank you for connecting with leading the way. Our entire team is wholly committed to passionately proclaiming uncompromising truth of God's word and it cannot be done without you learn more about what God has charged us to do around the world by clicking around LTW.org that's LTW.org. Thank you and may God richly bless you as you seek to serve everyone of us would love to hear good news that dream job that you got all that applications are not accepted or the surgery that was successful or the lost child that came home all these are good news and we rejoice in good news, but the Bible speaks from cover to cover about the good news. The greatest news of all, what is it that a repentant sinner can be eternally saved. The good news is that a guilty person can be set free from guilt and sin that an empty person can be filled with the Holy Spirit that are desperate life can rejoice again. The sorrowful person can be confident that a life whether it is short or long, can be meaningful or that our mortal life can live forever with Jesus in heaven. That's the good news and some good news of the entire Bible and the prophet Isaiah speaks of that good news both locally for his time and then prophetically as he looks down into the coming of Jesus Christ and the proclamation of the good news of the gospel and I want you to turn to Isaiah 52 seven. The prophet Isaiah said how beautiful on the mountain are the feet of him who brings good news who proclaims peace, who brings good news to proclaim salvation.

Who says to them, our God reigns.

I'm sure that the prophet was inspired by the Holy Spirit as he writes these words at that time. No doubt he was not aware that the day was coming when that good news in the feet that he's talking about is the footprint of the preaching of the gospel around the world.

We talk about footprint.

That Isaiah talks about the beautiful feet that brings the good news back then. Of course they had runners that brought good news. These runners were there observing the battlefield and that is the military wins the victory, he runs to the town where the king lives in order to announce the good news of victory is how they dated by then. Today we have all sorts of footprints as airways footprints. There is a satellite footprints in the good news of Jesus Christ is now being proclaim to the end of the earth, but as you know I always put the passage in its context. He can take a verse and run with it, get into trouble. That way the good news that Isaiah was talking about I'm longing for is the good news of God's people being set free from the exile in Babylon, the good news that he was longing for is the deliverance of God's people from their captivity's the good news is being able to go back to Zion again to worship God again but you also have to understand what was happening during the time in order to understand what is happening in our time because this is a meta-reflection of what is happening today. It will give you an insight into understanding where we are. When Israel persisted in living in rebellion against God when continuously kept running after other gods when there continuously would worship Jehovah on the Sabbath day and then all sorts of idols during the week and as usual refused to heed the call of God by profit after profit after profit and God is so patient so long-suffering for literally several hundred years, he would call them to himself and he pleaded with them and they would not repent, and finally God permitted his people to be taken into captivity's not remember this. This is the people of God.

These were the apple of his eyes, but God comes to a point and he says enough is enough enough rejection of me from your public life. Enough rejection of me from your school enough rejection of me in time came for the people of God to be taken Is into Babylonia the Babylonian army came in and they grab kids out of their mother's arms. They hunted men and women like animals. They grab whatever and whomever they could and they deported them to Babylon and that was painful. It was horrible. It was dreadful. It was devastating, but as time wore on many of the next generation of exhausts of God's people got used to the Babylonian lifestyles they like the godless living of Babylon. They got wrapped up in the Babylonian materialism they got wrapped up with the Babylonian sports they got wrapped up with Babylonian sensuality. They got wrapped up in Babylonian entertainment. They got wrapped up in and Babylonian angels, and they forgot about their homeland and they forgot about their God, though a faithful remnants like you read about the Daniel and Shadrach in Michigan. Abednego, there representing the few faithful people who have longed for God to give them good news of deliverance to send them good news of setting them free, so that they can go home again so they can worship Yahweh once again that they can physically and spiritually be in the presence of God once again and they looked forward for the day of good news indeed is the picture of our day. With so many people, God's people are so wrapped up in all that this world has to offer. There are wrapped up in false belief systems that are so wrapped up in entertainment there so wrapped up in politics there so wrapped up in sports all wrapped up in all sorts of trivia in life was a picture also of those who long for freedom from sin. Those who long to be liberated from addiction. Those who desperate to know the truth so they can be set free those who are longing to hear the message of the cross.

Those who are longing to see the prison bars of their lives to be broken and turn to the Lord. Those who were in a small blind and stumbling, but they long to be able to see those who have been misled by false religions and those were misled by false religious teacher and a longing for the good news now believe God raised this church to bring the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Not just in the city of around the globe.

In fact, that is exclaiming of Isaiah. If you read the words in the written how beautiful is exclaiming about the beauty. How beautiful he was not referring to the feet themselves.

This exclaiming is about the speed by which the good news is delivered with the feet may be ugly and smelly at the feet may be rough and tattered, the feet may be hard and calloused. That doesn't matter. The beauty is in the good news and the speed by which the good news is delivered, the beauty is in the movement from mountain to mountain from Valley to Valley from town to town from home to home with the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ. And if Isaiah lived in our time. He would say how beautiful is the courage of that believer who takes the gospel and share Christ with his neighbor across the street with his neighbor in the workplace and whatever he may be or she may be in of leading the way. He would say how beautiful are the airwaves that reaches into the darkest corner of the globe.

How beautiful are the satellite signals that enter into many lonely and desperate homes and how beautiful are the websites that bring hope to the hopeless.

How beautiful are the voices that fill an empty life with the word of God. This is beloved the power of the gospel, not the proclaimers of the gospel of the gospel and the power is in the gospel itself and that power knows no geographical boundaries and knows no separation of distance ignores no hindrance of language that power that has no distinction of culture that power is the power of the gospel when it is faithfully proclaimed with see the power of the gospel in this place around the world. We have seen how the gospel can turn somebody who's indifferent toward Christ to become passionate lovers of Jesus we see in how the power of the gospel can transform a life of a terrorist to being a saint transform a life of an atheist to being an evangelist, how it turned of heart of a loveless person to become a caring individual that is a part of the good news and Isaiah said very simply proclaims that God reigns as is very simple two word message but God raised us the good news that God reigns in the heart of a repentant Muslim or a churchgoing American. All the same way God can reign in the heart of a repentant agnostic or a repentant secular humanist in the same way God can rein in the heart of a repentant Hindu or a backslidden Christian the same way that the prophet also telling us something more than that this this is a very powerful verse. He is telling us that the power of the gospel not only brings forgiveness and cleansing, but it also transforms a life of a former enemy of Christ into the image of his son many years ago there was a Canadian missionary's name was Jonathan Goforth great name for missionary Jonathan Goforth was called of God to go to China when he got to China. An old hand missionaries been there for years gave him a bit of advice he said you know Jonathan when you get invited to speak to the heathens. Do not start by talking about Jesus there really a prejudice against that name of Jesus here just what you need to do is to demolish idols and demolish their arguments demolish the false gods and the false idols. Then if you get invited a second time. You can talk about Jesus or Jonathan was how deeply troubled he really was. He was he was in agony and he went home he shared this with his wife and they both agonized in prayer.

How can the D. How can we let this opportunity slip through our hands and finally he was quoted to say to his wife, never, never, never, the gospel which saved the down and out souls of Toronto is the same gospel that must save Chinese. Several years later missionaries were coming to Jonathan asking him what is the secret of your success.

How come you leaving so many people to Christ is what he said. I simply believe in the power of the gospel and then he continued, he said I shared the same Jesus with a proud Confucian scholar and the common people in the gospel save them both. There is no royal road to God, rich and poor, Canadian or Chinese. They come to the Savior the same way how beautiful on the mountain of the feet of him who brings good news. Beloved, listen, today we are seeing the failure of the so-called seeker friendly watering down the gospel soft sell. Don't tell them about Jesus for a long long long time and there would be dead by then and then don't turn them off by talking about the cross. Love is very offensive to talk about the cross. Remove it from our building entertained them with lots of drama first and fun and staying in pre-evangelism for a long time and it's failing miserably. You know why people try to do these little techniques and in all this stuff is because they have failed to believe that the power is in the gospel itself.

They think it's in the marketing strategy and they think it's in their clever methodology, but the power is in the gospel is in the name of Jesus and of spending time talking to people of different ethnic groups around the world for the past 30 years, taught me one thing it taught me that people would rather hear the truth upfront that all of those clever techniques. Our world is filled with bad news for our world is filled with anxiety and anxious people filled with anger and hatred is filled with uncertainty and fear. Our world is filled with doubt and turmoil and that is why today we need more than ever before.

Playing games in our heads and began to tell the good news of the gospel leading the way. Embarked on a mission bring the good news of the gospel to 3.9 billion people, and we chose those 20 languages of the most spoken languages of the world, most of whom do not have a near neighbor can hand a pocket New Testament and to be truthful after I stated the division which I believed was from God. I became filled with anxiety. I was filled with apprehension questions.

How in the world are really get the money to do this.

How in the world are going to get the personnel's how in the world are good partners to help us with the follow-up and on and on and on and on and then the Lord met me in a very unique way and he said I'm the one with the care of the details. All you need to do is obey, for it is my power that doesn't work. The power is in my gospel, and today as I read emails and letters and reports, and responses I get so overwhelmed. First, I really get overwhelmed at my own lack of faith. And secondly, more importantly, really.

I get overwhelmed at the faithfulness of God I'm overwhelmed at the faithfulness of God's word is his faithfulness to his promises as a warrior my surprise when I get a letter from a young actress in Australia who came to the Lord and listens daily and is strengthening her to stand up in the most horrible subculture and their acting world while my surprise when I get a letter from the valleys of one of the towns in Indonesia from Tehran, Iran, or whatever it may be I get so overwhelmed by the power of the gospel at work in Isaiah said how beautiful it is on the mountain when the feet of him who brings good news, but the something else I want you to notice in this verse that I don't want you to miss it. Look at it again. Isaiah does not speak of the beauty of the eye of the person is bringing good news he doesn't speak of the beauty of the lips that announces good news. He doesn't speak of the beauty of the hands that carries the good news no. He specifically talks about the beauty of the feet. What is a member that it means beloved that we need to go would not take us. It means that we must serve where he leads us. It means that we must sacrifice when he directs us. That must mean that we need to do what God says not long ago a young preacher was called to one of those traditional churches in any really was having a hard time and he was struggling and in the half dead, half alive and finally he went to one of his mentors and and and he was asking his advice. You know, doing the right thing is this, going about it the right way and finally his mentor asked him a question, what percentage would you say of your members who are active, what he thought for a moment and he said well he said 50% of them are active for the Lord and the other 50% are active for the devil and his mentor scratch his head. He knew the church and is it what would you mean active for the devil. He said by the neutrality by the neutrality and beloved. This is no time for neutrality neutrality can only benefit the devil.

The time is short. The hours now the opportunity yesterday. The good news is only good news if it gets there on time. Several years ago I saw in the Kensington garden in London. There's an electronic clock therefore dials east-west north-south number each dial. The two words carved letters, time flies.

Time flies, and is only one answer to that urgency and that is the speed by which we take the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Across the street and across the world how beautiful in the mountains of the feet of him who brings good news for years, ever since I really become a Christian as a young man in my late teens. One question that kind of always disturbed me. God obviously had a purpose why that question was bugging me and through seminary and then I had the joy of serving in the global ministry. Another okay thank God for the thousands who are coming to him. But who is going to reach the hundreds of millions who have never heard the gospel.

I was always a question that really kind of running in my ears and her kind of shrugged it off to write about it for a long time. That question troubled me.

I didn't realize that what God was doing is getting me to answer my own question God has an incredible sense of humor, but you must surely know you must surely know that my preaching is as effective as the generous hands that writes the checks in the general's hands. The volunteers and stuff envelopes and answer phones and and do all kinds of things. They are the beautiful feet that combine together to bring the good news that says our God, what rains in.

I say that, to the glory of God and after kingdoms that this general television channel 24 seven. Become a reality. I had to confess to the Lord for dragging my feet and really what uncertainty times and so when Joshua initially said to me said you know what we need will all European satellites but we need to be on a Arab satellite platform because that would give us of a really vast number of families who may switch a European satellite because all the junk but they would listen to an Arab satellite and I said that's impossible. The great man of faith that your pastor is I just want you to know that it's only call me after will be on therefore Holly said they been watching channel entered largest Arab satellite is inviting us to broadcast on the platform. I said no way. Beloved, I have feet of clay just like everyone else.

I really do and what is being done is truly a testimony to the power of the gospel. It really is not the power of the preacher preaches no power now over 100 and 2000 and 40 million homes, a most desperate parts of the world are hearing the gospel when God guided our steps.

Many of you cared our feet and I thank God for you as we keeps expanding the footprint of gospel preaching God's message.

Still, the gospel, God's mission. Still, the world and God's method.

Still, the proclamation of the gospel. The question is what part what part would you have in seeing that the gospel is proclaimed across the street and across the world with us today in the service a couple from Little Rock, Arkansas. The religiousness and supporters of leading the way in Arkansas and in June 1, 2009 the sun and a 23 years old, an Army recruiter and an army uniform was gunned down by Muslim terrorists, not in Iraq and Little Rock, Arkansas. A few months after his death, his mother sent me a letter with a check. She said we want to help take the gospel to the very people that killed my son beloved the supernatural. The question that you must ask yourself what am I going to do, how I'm going to make my life count. How can I serve as we go to the Lord in prayer. Do not let go of God until you answer that question. Lord, what would you have me do a father. Our hearts are filled with so much gratitude and thanksgiving to you the most amazing thing is, your grace can raise a dead soul and a dead spirit in your word says while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

You did not wait for us to improve because we would never be able to do it. You did not wait for us to become good. We could never be without you, but your grace saved us Lord we want to take that message of grace that saved us across the street across the desk and across the world will your father give us a genuine Holy Spirit awakening to realize that the times are short, short, that we may note the counter number our days in heaven. The spirit of wisdom.

Father, we know you're a mighty God who answer prayer because we pray them in the mighty and the powerful name of Jesus. Amen