Tuesday, February 12,
2013, 9:27 a.m. – The Lord had gotten me up at 4:00 a.m., and he had put
the song “Jesus, Lead Me” in my mind. I read Isaiah 63-64, but I was struggling to understand the message he had
for me. I spent some time in prayer, got a little more sleep, and then the Lord
Jesus put this song in my mind:
Fairest Lord Jesus
/ Schonster Herr Jesu / Joseph Seiss / Schlesische Volkslieder
Fairest Lord Jesus,
Ruler of all nature,
O Thou of God and man the Son,
Thee will I cherish, Thee will I honor,
Thou, my soul’s glory, joy and crown.
Fair are the meadows,
fairer still the woodlands,
Robed in the blooming garb of spring;
Jesus is fairer, Jesus is purer,
Who makes the woeful heart to sing.
All fairest beauty,
heavenly and earthly,
Wondrously, Jesus, is found in Thee;
None can be nearer, fairer or dearer,
Than Thou, my Savior, art to me.
Beautiful Savior! Lord
of all the nations!
Son of God and Son of Man!
Glory and honor, praise, adoration,
Now and forever more be Thine.
Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. I read Isaiah
63-64 again, and this time it began to gel in my mind and heart.
Red Garments - Quoting 63:1-6 (NIV 1984):
Who is this coming
from Edom,
from Bozrah, with his garments stained
crimson?
Who is this, robed in
splendor,
striding forward in the greatness of his
strength?
“It is I, speaking in
righteousness,
mighty to save.”
Why are your garments
red,
like those of one treading the winepress?
“I have trodden the
winepress alone;
from the nations no one was with me.
I trampled them in my
anger
and trod them down in my wrath;
their blood spattered
my garments,
and I stained all my clothing.
For the day of
vengeance was in my heart,
and the year of my redemption has come.
I looked, but there
was no one to help,
I was appalled that no one gave support;
so my own arm worked
salvation for me,
and my own wrath sustained me.
I trampled the nations
in my anger;
in my wrath I made them drunk
and poured their blood on the ground.”
In
vv. 1-6 we have a picture of Jesus Christ both as Judge and as Savior. This is
a common theme throughout the book of Isaiah. God uses his judgments against
the nations and against his own people in order to bring them to Christ or back
to God, so his arm of judgment also works salvation for the people and revival for
his church.
The
judgments of God on Babylon the Great in Revelation 14 & 19 are reminiscent
of these judgments of God described here in Isaiah 63, as both use the
terminology of a winepress of God’s wrath. Chapter 5 of Revelation is also
reminiscent of v. 5 in Isaiah 63 where Jesus is speaking, and he says that he
looked, but there was no one to help, he was appalled that no one gave support,
so his own arm worked salvation for him. In Rev. 5 Jesus is the only one worthy
to take the scroll and to open its seals, because he was slain, and with his
blood he purchased mankind for God. The seals represent God’s judgments on
mankind and on the earth.
The Lord’s
Kindnesses –
Quoting 63:7-10 (NIV 1984):
I will tell of
the kindnesses of the Lord,
the deeds for which he is to be praised,
according to all the Lord has done for us—
yes, the many
good things he has done
for the house of Israel,
according to his compassion and many
kindnesses.
He said,
“Surely they are my people,
sons who will not be false to me”;
and so he became their Savior.
In all their
distress he too was distressed,
and the angel of his presence saved them.
In his love and
mercy he redeemed them;
he lifted them up and carried them
all the days of old.
Yet they
rebelled
and grieved his Holy Spirit.
So he turned
and became their enemy
and he himself fought against them.
While
we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. He took the sins of the entire world
upon him when he died on that cross so that when he died our sins would die
with him, and when he was buried, our sins would be buried with him, and when
he rose from the grave triumphant over death, hell, Satan and sin our sins would
forever remain in the grave. He did this because he loves us so much! He died
so that we might live forever with God in glory. He died so that we would be free
from slavery to sin day-to-day and so that daily we could walk with our Lord in
humility, obedience and submission and surrender to his will for our lives.
Not
only did he die so we would be free, but he came to earth, was born as a baby,
took on human flesh, suffered as we suffer and was tempted as we are tempted,
yet without sin. He suffered the pain of rejection, hatred, envy, criticism,
false accusations, mockery, chastisement, beatings, carrying his cross to the
hill to be crucified, hanging on the cross to die, being misunderstood and
abandoned by his closest companions and betrayed to death by one of them. He went
through all of this so he could become our compassionate and merciful high
priest who sympathizes with us in our weaknesses and who has opened the way for
us to boldly approach the throne of God to help us in our time of need.
We
come to faith in Jesus Christ by God’s grace toward us which gives us the
ability to repent of our sins and to walk in obedience to Jesus Christ. Jesus
said that if anyone would come after him, he must deny himself and take up his
cross daily (die daily to sin and self) and follow (obey) him (see Luke
9:23-25). Paul, the Spirit speaking through him, said that the way we come to
know Christ is by forsaking (dying to; putting off) our old lives of sin, by
being transformed (of the Spirit) in heart and mind, and by putting on our new
selves in Christ Jesus, “created to be like God in true righteousness and
holiness.” This is not optional. This is required, i.e. repentance and
obedience (not perfection) are faith’s requirements for salvation, i.e. this is
what it means to truly believe in Jesus Christ.
Yet They
Rebelled
Yet,
it is possible for those who have once made a decision to accept Jesus’
invitation to salvation and eternal life to get caught up in the things and
cares of this world, to allow sin to creep back in to their lives, to permit
self to consume what was once given over to the Lord, and for God to thus take
a back seat or to fade completely out of the picture of their lives. They are
those who have rebelled against God and have grieved his Holy Spirit. So he has
turned and has become their enemy and he himself will fight against them.
In
Revelation 2-3 we have recorded seven letters to seven churches, which I
believe represent the various relationships the people of God have with their
Maker even today. Yet, I also believe the church in Laodicea represents the
complacent church of these last days, in particular in America, and that God is
still speaking these same messages to his church throughout the world today. To
five of these churches our Lord gave words of rebuke, called for repentance and
renewed faith, and warned of judgment should they fail to repent. I believe the
Lord today gave me a picture of his treading the winepress as parallel to his
words spoken in Revelation 2-3, as recorded in red (the color of blood). And, I
believe he gave me a picture of the “state of our nation” as parallel to the
whole of the book of Revelation.
In
other words, I believe there is a mixture in our nation of those who are truly
following Jesus Christ, and those who profess his name but their hearts are far
from him. Yet, I believe the majority of professing Christians in America fit
into the five congregations in Rev 2-3 which received encouragement (all but
one) as well as rebuke from our Lord, calls to repentance, and warnings of judgment
if they do not repent.
The
church overall in America is on a spiritual decline, the gospel has been
diluted and a false grace is being taught in place of repentance and obedience
to Christ and to his commands. Church “worship” services have become centers of
good, clean religious entertainment, and the words of Christ are being substituted
with the teachings of men. The church is being marketed just like big business,
and that often leads to manipulation, lies and deception. So, Jesus will judge
his rebellious people, his arm working salvation for his church and for the
lost. This is one of the main themes of the book of Isaiah.
Jesus, Lead Me / An Original
Work / July 22, 2011
Jesus, lead me
all the way.
Be my hope and
be my stay.
Gently lead me
where I should go,
So Your Spirit,
I want to know.
Open up my
heart to You.
Fill me with
Your love and truth.
Make my heart
want to obey.
Be my Lord
today. Gently lead always.
Jesus, lover of
my soul,
Cleanse my
heart, and make me whole;
Be transformed
in my heart today,
As I turn from
my sin and pray.
Make Your will
known to my heart.
May I not from
You depart.
How I long to
hear You now,
As I humbly
bow. Jesus, hear me now.
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