Good News

Good News

Sunday, July 22, 2007 – AM

Pastor Jim May

The first verse of an old gospel song says this:

I have good news to bring, and that is why I sing

All my joys with you I’ll share

I’m going to take a trip in that old gospel ship

And go sailing through the air

Well, I’m here to tell you that there is good news for you today and because I’m here to tell you this good news, the Bible says that I have some beautiful feet. (Don’t you think that these feet are beautiful? They are a size 7 ½, with scrunched up toes, a high instep and almost as wide as they are long, but they are beautiful.)

Isaiah 52:7, "How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!"

There, on the hills of Judea, round about Jerusalem, walked a man among men. Luke 1:15 describes this man as one who was, "… great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother’s womb." He was called for a purpose. His job was to carry the message of repentance and the coming of the Messiah to the people of the earth. His name was John the Baptist and his job was to preach of the coming of the Lord to set the captive free. As John walked the mountains, preaching repentance and baptizing people, God says that he had beautiful feet.

John’s feet weren’t pretty to look at. He wore old thick sandals, if he wore any shoes at all. I’m sure his feet were very dusty and dirty for he walked in the dust of the earth and lived in the hill country. He couldn’t help but have dirty feet all the time. They were dusty and dirty, but they were still beautiful.

Of course we know this is a sort of symbolism. The picture here is one that reminds me of the old western movies where a wagon train would be surrounded by hostile Indians. The pioneers would be down to their last few bullets and they knew that all was lost. It wouldn’t be long until the Indians would overpower them and take scalps. But just as the last bullet was loaded and things looked really hopeless, off in the distance you would hear the bugles of the cavalry as they topped the ridge and came charging down into the Indians, with guns blazing and sabers flashing to save the day. That was always a beautiful sight to behold, unless you were an Indian.

We all live in a filthy, dirty and sinful world. Even those who bring the good news of a Savior are walking in that dirt. None of us are perfect. None of us can walk this life without some of the dust settling on us. That’s why we need to go to the Lord every day for a refreshing and cleansing.

Most of us take a shower or a bath every day. If you don’t wash up every day, then please understand that we will reserve a little corner in the back where you will be assigned a very special place to sit, away from every one else. We wouldn’t think of wearing the same dirty clothes for a week, or not taking a bath for a month. All of us have been around people who did that and you don’t want to stay around them long because of “B. O.”

I’m here to tell you that there are a lot of people that might take a bath every day, but they still have “Spiritual B. O.” They haven’t been to the Word to get washed in the water of the Word. They haven’t been on their knees in weeks, asking the Lord to wash away the filth of the world that has clung to their feet. And their spirit stinks. All you have to do is get close and you can sense that there’s something wrong here. Something is dying; and it’s their spirit. They might look pretty from a distance, sound good when they talk, but their spirit stinks to high Heaven. They need a fresh anointing of the Holy Ghost and power. They need a fresh cleansing in the blood of the Lamb.

You can talk the talk, but you also have to walk the walk, and if you are walking in truth and preaching the gospel of salvation through the Lord Jesus Christ to everyone you can, then God says that you have some beautiful feet.

If you are a Born Again Christian then you have a calling upon your life to be a preacher of the gospel. You may never stand behind a pulpit, or preach to a crowd, but you preach nonetheless. You are a sheep of God’s pasture and you are called to bear more sheep.