What are we doing today? We need to be those who are going out to get sinners. This is what it means to release God's chosen people. In eternity past God chose millions of people, but they all were captured by Satan, typified by that evil Nebuchadnezzar. In Isaiah 14, Isaiah combines Satan with Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon (vv. 12-23). All the sinners are Satan's captives. Every time we bring a sinner to salvation, he gets released from Satan's captivity. If we gain one hundred sinners for Christ, that means we reach one hundred captives for God.

All the angels rejoice when just one sinner is saved, when one captive is released (Luke 15:10, 7). The first verse of hymn #1068 says:

In tenderness He sought me,
Weary and sick with sin,
And on His shoulders brought me
Into His flock again.
While angels in His presence sang
Until the courts of heaven rang.

This verse tells us that when a sinner is saved, the angels' singing fills the courts of heaven. The angels in heaven rejoice every time a sinner is saved.

Our gospel preaching is to release the captives. Then we build up the church, God's house and household, with the released sinners saved through our preaching. We also establish the kingdom of God. All the sinners saved through our preaching will be members of the house of God and of the kingdom of God. Furthermore, they will become the members of Christ's Body and the constituents of the new man. Eventually, they will consummate in the coming New Jerusalem. Day by day and week by week we should be working in this way for God's good pleasure to touch God's heart.

Each one of us needs to be today's Cyrus. Like Cyrus, we need to be birds of prey who go out to gain sinners for God's kingdom. The saved sinners are our prey. All of these saved ones are the released captives who have been made sons of God and members of Christ. How good it is! Such a pleasant work should never tire us out. We should only know how to make our God happy. God's charge to us should be sweet and pleasant. If we realize what we are doing for God's good pleasure, we will be happy.

Cyrus did not ask for any recompense for releasing Israel. Nebuchadnezzar captured them, and Cyrus wanted to send them back home. This was his pleasure, and it was also the pleasure of God. God in heaven could have applauded Cyrus as a good servant. God could have said to Cyrus, "You are doing something according to My good pleasure in My heart. I'm happy to see you release My people for them to build up the temple and erect the holy city again."