(45:1) "Thus saith the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden, to subdue nations before him; and I will loose the shall not be shut;"
(45:2) I will go before thee, and make the crooked places straight;
PT. I YOUR APPOINTMENT IS DIVINELY SELECTED
Saints, today the Lord has taken us to this 45th chapter of Isaiah, and to be frank with you, when I began putting my notes together for this message, I was in total amazement when I started seeing what the Lord was saying in just about (8) eight short sentences.
Here the text has told us that the Lord has identified to the prophet Isaiah, that he is a sovergn creator, who alone controls the events of history. And it is here that he announces to the prophet that he would use Cyrus the Persian to restore His people to the land of promise.
God had great plans for his people in exile…
He had wonderful expectations for them…
He had a magnificent purpose for them…
But as it was, the people were not patient with God, They grumbled about their condition, they questioned God’s ways, they even quarreled with God because they were walking down block of captivity… Little did they know that:
"God Was Right Around the Corner"
Lets look closely at this first verse… because there are several important points that we can learn from God here…
(45:1) First the scripture says, Thus saith the Lord to his anointed, (everybody say anointed)…
To his anointed Cyrus, whose right hand have holden,
The Webster dictionary defines the word anointed as someone chosen by divine selection…
When God said his anointed …
He was telling you that this is a divine selection…
That this was not just something out of the blue the prophet had dreamed up…
This has nothing to do with the worldly appointments, governing bodies, kings or leaders…
No, God had told us that I have specifically selected one of my saints to carry out my will…
That this is a mission that must be accomplished by this individual…
That this assignment is going forth to the man Cyrus… And it will be he that glorifies my name…
It will be he that will phrase me…
It will be he that will glorify me…
God is calling someone out there to be like Cyrus…
He has called you to take on an assignment for Him…
To fulfill and objective for Him…
To take on a challenge or duty in the church….
To be the one that will glorify him when the job is done…
But to many times we are like the children of Israel…
We grumble at Gods assignment…
We quarrel with God over the task…
We say why me?
I not ready for this… I can’t do that stuff… I don’t want to do this work…
We question whether this revelation is truly from God…
We question whether this is a divine selection…
We question whether we are worthy to do this work…
Then (just like the children of Israel) we are at odds with God…
And God has to send an anointed one…
God has to send someone to shake things up…
God has to send someone of divine selection to walk into your life…
Do you know what the text says about this…?
It says that to challenge God’s purpose in your life "is as absurd as a piece of pottery criticizing the potter who formed it".
Because it is the Potter that molded you…
It is the Potter that poured grace and mercy upon you…
It is the Potter that is fine tuning every spiritual channel on your dial
So that the reception of the word of God comes in clearer and clearer every Sunday…
It is the Potter that is moving you to the next level of your purpose for God…
It is the Potter that is telling you that this is a divine selection…
It is the Potter who is pointing you in the direction that he has ordained, purposed and desires for you…
You’ve have been walking down the street of self-doubt…. But saints, God is right around the corner…
Give God some praise.
PT. II GOD WILL HOLD YOUR HAND THROUGH THE PLAN
My second point is that God will hold your hand, through the plan.
You see, God told Cyrus, not only that he was his selection but that he would hold his right hand and subdue nations before him…
I know what you’re thinking…
What does that mean to me?
Well, let me try to speak to the last issue first and the first issues last…
First of all, everybody say, subdue…
When you subdue something it means you have conquered something…
More than that it means you have brought whatever your situation is into Subjection…
More than that, it means that what you have brought into subjection you have dominion over…
In Fact, when you subdue something
You own it…
It cannot be taken away…
You conquered the situation
But that’s just part of God’s greatness…
Because when God tells you that He will take your hand…
And put it in His hand…
And He says that He will go before you…
And make the crooked places straight for you
God is not just speaking figuratively about your situation or circumstance…
God is telling you that something is about to happen…
God is telling you are going to be a part of something miraculous…
God is telling you that something big is about to take place in your life…
Maybe you don’t hear me today…
Listen to me; if I take someone’s hand (grab a hand of one of the ministers)
And we start walking…
I’m not just talking to you now…
I’m not just making a gesture at you…
I’m not just suggesting something to you…. (Walk with minister)
I am walking with you… Guiding and directing you…
When God takes you by the hand, he is guiding and directing your path…
For the Bible says…
(Proverb 3:5) "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding".
(Proverb 3:6) "In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths…
When you are walking with God… He will direct your path…
Just like Cyrus, God will place the challenge before you…
But you have to walk…
God will deliver an opportunity for you…
But you have to walk…
God will open the gates for you
But you have to walk…
God will create a new beginning for you…
But you have to walk…
Because when you walk by yourself, you may walk alone…
When you walk with the world…
You walk in doubt and fear…
But when you walk with God…
You are walking with a partner that loves you unconditionally…
You are walking with the anointed one…
You are walking with a with a God that wants to remove you from the dizzy, confusing, chaotic, comfortless condition you are in…
God is not the author of chaos
God is not the author of confusion
God doesn’t want you comfortless…. Because he told he would send me a comforter…
God says give me that condition…
Give me that illness…
Give me that problem…
Give me that fear…
Give me that uncertainty…
Give me that heavy-laden issue… And I will give you rest…
You are walking down the street of depression and doubt… but guess what…
God is right around the corner…
Give God the praise…
PT. III GOD WILL GO BEFORE THEE
Now, as we try to close this thing out we have one more point that God shares with us in this scripture…
God is right around the corner… And he is waiting for you to walk…
God told Isaiah, that for Cyrus he would go before thee and make the crooked places straight…
Look at that closely…
He said, I will go before thee and make the crooked places straight…
Now when something is crooked, it usually is not right… Amen?
You know what I mean, If something is crooked… It usually is just not right…
If your golf club is crooked, It’s not right….
If your jacket or tie is crooked, It’s not right….
If your finances are crooked, they’re not right…
If YOU are crooked… then you’re just not right…
But God says here that I will go before thee…
I will step in front of thee…
I will move in advance of thee…
And I will make the crooked places straight for you…
It doesn’t matter if your situation is bent, wrong, unsatisfactory, problematic, insurmountable, overwhelming, criminal or otherwise…
God said I will go before you…
Let me show you something…
Turn your Bibles to the book of Zechariah Chapter 3, verses 1, 3, 4
(3:1) "And he shewed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right hand to resist him (to accuse him)."
(3:3) " Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, and stood before the angel"
(3:4) "And he answered and spake unto those that stood before him, saying, take away the filthy garments from him. And unto him he said, behold, I have caused thine inquity to pass from thee, and I will clothe thee with a change of raiment"
Now watch this…
Joshua, a high priest, appears before the highest court in the universe…
By the Law of Moses, the garments of a high priest were to be for glory and
beauty.
Yet Joshua is clothed in filthy garments… These garments represent the sins
of a man…
They represent the shame of a people, so shaken up by there problems that
they thought little of the Sins they committed…
Satan is in the courtroom… appearing in his role as the "accuser" of Gods
people. Ready to attack…
Look what your Joshua did…
Look what your saint did…
Look at your so-called man of God…
Now if Satan can accuse a man of God like Joshua… What do you think he
might say about you and I …
Look what Parker did…
Look what Midgett did…
But hold on…
We have a special testimony from someone identified as the "Angel of the
Lord"…
Who is this person?
Where did he come from?
All I know is that in that 2nd verse…
That angel said unto Satan, the Lord rebukes thee,
He said I have plucked this one out of the fire…
I have spoken for this man…
And I have taken away his iniquity…
Those things will pass from him…
And I will clothe thee with a change of raiment…
I’ve stepped in front of this situation….
I’m taking over this court…
I’m the Lawyer…
The Stenographer…
And the Judge…
And I say this man is cleansed of his sins…
The Devil thought he had one of the saints…
But this angel of the Lord came to fight his legal battle
You might be asking yourself who is this angel who can rebuke Satan…
Well Isaiah gave us a few hints when he told us…
(Isa 7:14) that a "virgin would conceive, and bear a son… and his name
shall be Im-manuel…
He told us that he would: (7:15) refuse the evil and choose the Good.
That (9:6) the government would be upon his shoulder
And his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty God, the
Everlasting Father and the Prince of Peace…
That the deaf would hear and the blind would be given sight…
An that there would be no end to his kingdom…
That he would be King of Kings and Lord of Lords… (32:1-4)
And 735 years later when he condescended himself to become unborn child
of a woman Named Mary…
And he walked in human flesh…
And ministered the Good News that was to come…
And He said…
I am the Bread of Life…
And He said…
What ever you shall bind on earth…
You shall bind in Heaven…
And what ever you shall loose on earth…
You shall loose in Heaven…
And the Bible says:
If you follow my ways…
and if you keep my charge…
In the Name of Jesus...
I will make the rocky road smooth for you…
And in the Name of Jesus...
I will move the mountains for you…
And in the Name of Jesus...
I will subdue the giants for you…
And in the Name of Jesus...
I will take the battle
And in the Name of Jesus...I will take the victory…
And when I conquer the nations… I will conquer your fears…
And when I subdue your enemies, I will subdue your burdens…
And when I hold your hand… I will hold the desires of your heart…
And when I open the gates for you’re…
I will open the hidden riches of secret places…
And when I go before thee… I will set the crooked places straight…
We where walking down the street of uncertainty… But God said He is right around the corner.
God is right around the corner…
You have got to walk to him…
But you have to let me lead you…
God may be saying that to someone out there right now…
He might be whispering to you… Let me go before you….
Step behind my protection…
Stop trying to run in front of me…
You’ve been running in circles
Stop trying to run away from me…
You just keeping taking one step forward and two steps behind…
Stop running from church to church…
You’re just treading water…
Stop running from the work of God…
Your mind is moving, but you haven’t taken the first step …
Stop running from Salvation…
You’re running in the wrong direction…
Listen to what God is saying to you… And then take action on it…
Listen, in the opening scripture, God told Isaiah that this man Cyrus that he was "His anointed"…
Cyrus was enlisted to God’s army to restore Gods people to the land, rebuild the cities and bring them back in a convenant relationship with God…
Cyrus knew that God was real…
You know how I know that?
Because Isaiah’s writings of this ruler Cyrus were written almost 210 years before he was born…
God performed a miracle by telling the prophet that it would be this man that would help His people.
And Cyrus did everything the prophet said he would… 210 years later….
Cyrus was his anointed…
Why is that important?
Well watch this, in the book of Luke 4th chapter, 18th verse. In Jesus’ first public sermon, He tells the world:
(4:18) THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD IS UPON ME, BECAUSE HE HATH ANOINTED ME TO PREACH THE GOSPEL TO THE POOR; TO HEAL THE BROKENHEARTED, TO PREACH DELIVERENCE TO THE CAPTIVES, AND RECOVERING OF SIGHT TO THE BLIND, TO SET LIBERTY THEM THAT ARE BRUISED"
Now, I’d like to share something with you…
This word anointed…
I know Webster defines it as being of divine selection. And this is true.
But the words original meaning comes from the Hebrew word meaning to Forgive, Pardon or Spare…
That’s what Cyrus did when for the people when he carried out his task…
That’s what Jesus did for Joshua…
And that’s what He wants to do for you today…
He wants to forgive you for any and all things you have done…
He wants to rebuild the relationship you had with him…
He wants to love you unconditionally…
He’s right around the corner if you want him… You simply have to walk…
As the door of the church now open…
This is your moment…
Rev. Robert W. Parker
Southern Mission Missionary Baptist Church
Tele: (314) 521-3951
E-mail: cwp240@aol.com for free audio version
Rev. John Mitchell Jr. Senior Pastor and Teacher
