Monday, February 04,
2013, 3:33 a.m. – the Lord Jesus woke me with the song “Before the Throne of God Above.” Speak, Lord, for your servant is
listening. I read Isaiah 43 (quoting
selected verses in the NIV 1984):
But now, this is what
the Lord says—
he who created you, O Jacob,
he who formed you, O Israel:
“Fear not, for I have
redeemed you;
I have summoned you by name; you are mine.
When you pass through
the waters,
I will be with you;
and when you pass
through the rivers,
they will not sweep over you.
When you walk through
the fire,
you will not be burned;
the flames will not set you ablaze.
For I am the Lord,
your God,
the Holy One of Israel, your Savior…
Do not be afraid, for
I am with you…
Lead out those who have
eyes but are blind,
who have ears but are deaf…
“You are my
witnesses,” declares the Lord,
“and my servant whom I have chosen,
so that you may know
and believe me
and understand that I am he.
Before me no god was
formed,
nor will there be one after me.
I, even I, am the
Lord,
and apart from me there is no savior.
I have revealed and
saved and proclaimed—
I, and not some foreign god among you.
You are my witnesses,”
declares the Lord, “that I am God.
Yes, and from ancient days I am he.
No one can deliver out
of my hand.
When I act, who can reverse it?”…
“Forget the former
things;
do not dwell on the past.
See, I am doing a new
thing!
Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in
the desert
and streams in the wasteland.
…I provide water in
the desert
and streams in the wasteland,
to give drink to my
people, my chosen,
the people I formed for myself
that they may proclaim my praise.
Blind and Deaf
In the previous
chapter we were given a picture first of all of the Messiah, the Servant of the
Lord as God’s chosen one who would bring justice to the nations, and after whose
life his people should emulate, i.e. he was/is the perfect or ideal expression
of who God intended his people to become. We also have a picture of God’s
people, now the true church, the body of Christ, as a people who were blind and
deaf. God said of them, “You have seen many things, but have paid no attention;
your ears are open, but you hear nothing.” So, the Lord handed his people over
to the plunderers because they would not follow his ways and they did not obey
his law. So, he poured on them the violence of war, yet they still did not
understand; “it consumed them, but they still did not take it to heart.”
I have read the book
of Isaiah many, many times, yet I have never been more impressed as I have been
this time with how much of this book (writing; prophecy) is about Jesus Christ,
the Messiah, our Lord God and Savior, and how much of it is speaking of the
last days. In other words, though it certainly had application for Isaiah’s
time period, much of this is eschatological, and in context of where it speaks
of the Messiah, and it speaks of the final days on the earth and of his kingdom
reign, we must make application of God’s people thus to the church of this time,
and in reality, it fits perfectly. Much of the description of God’s people then
fits with where the church is today - at least it does in America where I live.
I don’t own a TV, for
good reasons, and I am not a follower of football, so I have never really been
interested in the Super bowl games. Yet, I have recently been made aware of the
absolute evil that has pervaded the recent opening and closing ceremonies of
both the regular Olympics and the special Olympics, as well as these halftime
shows for the Super bowl, so I did glance at the news to see what kind of show pervaded
this year’s halftime. I only got a glimpse of Beyonce’s halftime performance,
and that was much more than I cared to watch, but all I could think about was
wondering how many hundreds or thousands of “Christians” in America were sitting
there watching this sexual and seductive performance that was fraught with evil
and Satanic imagery, and of how many of them did so without thought to what
they were watching. I don’t know the answer to that, but it came to mind again this
morning as I read these words:
You
have seen many things, but have paid no attention;
your ears are open, but you hear nothing.
your ears are open, but you hear nothing.
…It
enveloped them in flames, yet they did not understand;
it consumed them, but they did not take it to heart.
This is speaking not
only of not seeing or hearing what is of the Spirit of God, but also not having
the ability, thus, to discern what is purely evil. There is a war going on
against the Christians in this nation of ours but it is not being fought with
guns or knives. The battlefront is our minds, and the weapons are TV, news
shows, commercials, halftime shows, movies, video games, smart phones, the
internet, I-Pads or other tablets, etc. Over time we, the people and Christians
of America, have been desensitized to evil through TV, movies, video games,
music videos and the like. The most evil of all evil is right at our fingertips
in our own homes, and now with the use of smart phones and electronic tablets
the world of evil is available 24/7 and in absolute privacy, and therefore the
temptation is great. The worst part of all, though, is most people don’t see it
for what it truly is.
Yet, not only is this
evil available at our fingertips 24/7 in the world, but it has invaded the
church, too, and in course of time the gospel has been watered down to where it
no longer slays the sinner, but it entertains him. See “The Old Cross and the
New” by A.W. Tozer: http://www.ldolphin.org/oldcross.html.
He wrote this in 1946 but it speaks of today.
Our Redeemer
If I wanted to
summarize the book of Isaiah, or in fact the whole of scripture or definitely
the whole of the New Testament into two paragraphs, it would be this:
We, the people of
this world, are sinners. We are destined to eternity in hell without Christ.
Sin has separated us from a relationship with God Almighty. Jesus Christ came
to bridge that gap between us and God. He died on the cross for our sins,
taking our punishment on him so we could go free – from slavery (bondage) to
sin and from the penalty of sin (eternal damnation), and to free us to worship,
honor, love, serve and obey our Lord God/Jesus Christ. It is by grace we are
saved through faith. Both faith and grace are gifts from God which we must
appropriate to our own lives. Critical elements of faith are repentance
(turning from sin to obedience to God/Christ), obedience to Christ and to his
commands, love for others, and walking in the Spirit of God, following Christ
wherever he leads us (see Eph. 4:17-24; Luke 9:23-25; Rom. 12:1-2; Gal.
2:20-21; 1 John 1:5-7; and Rom. 8, etc.).
The people of God are
to continue daily to walk in the ways of God, listening to his voice, trusting
him with their lives and circumstances, following his truths, daily forsaking
sins and choosing to hear his voice and to obey him. Yet, the people of God
oftentimes get caught up in the world, they begin to follow after other gods of
men and of the flesh, they follow deceptive spirits, and are led astray by
false doctrines and teachings. They begin to close their eyes and ears to the
things and truths of God and of his word, and they allow the world of evil to
slowly and gradually creep back into their lives, even into the church. God,
thus, calls them to repentance and to renewed faith, but they don’t listen. This
happens time and time again, and he warns them of judgment, too (see Rev 2-3),
but they largely ignore the warnings, as well, and so in time he hands his
people over to plunderers so that they will have their eyes opened and their
ears unstopped, so they will be revived and renewed in faith, and so they will
once again make God their only Lord and Savior.
God’s Plan for his people
God’s plan is that we
have a close, intimate relationship with him like that of a bride and groom who
are madly in love with each other. He redeemed us, not just so we could go to
heaven one day, as wonderful as that will be, but he redeemed us so that we
could live with him and for him while we still live on the face of this earth.
And, he promises to be with us, to take us through the trials and tribulations
of this life, and to bring us safely into his kingdom. We never have to fear
mankind or what they can do to us or fear our circumstances, because God is
absolutely in control of all things, and he has a purpose for everything he
does and for everything he allows in our lives. If we would but put our
absolute faith in him and trust that he knows best, he will lead and guide us
through every storm of our lives.
In context, I believe
these prophecies in Isaiah warn of judgment against God’s people of the last
days, too, who have become idolatrous and spiritually adulterous people – whose
eyes and ears are closed to the truth; who have become complacent and overly
casual about their relationship with Jesus Christ; who are living in rebellious
ways; who largely ignore their creator, God and Lord, and his commands; who
have lost sight of the fear (awe, respect and honor) of God; and who burden and
weary God with their sins and their offenses. And, I believe we may already be
seeing forms of that judgment coming against the church through our elected
leaders and the decisions they are making for the people of America, and
through God turning the church over to the “looters” who are taking advantage
of the naïve minds and hearts of God’s people whose consciences have been
seared and whose eyes are blinded and whose ears are closed to the truth of God’s
word.
Yet, through these
judgments, I believe God intends to open the blinded eyes and the deaf ears,
and his plan is to bring his people back to him in renewed faith and revival. I
believe the promises of his protection and assurances of his continued presence
with us here serve to encourage us that even through great suffering and trials
that are most certainly to come (see the book of Revelation), God will be with
those who are his, and he will see us through to his eternal kingdom. We don’t
need to fear what lies ahead, because God is with us. Amen! He will give us all
we need to survive the coming days. We just have to trust him and follow his
lead. He will use judgment as his divine instrument of purifying a people for
himself in these last days, i.e. he will cause his people to return to him (see
Rev. 19:7). Amen!
Before the Throne of God Above / Charitie L. Bancroft
Before the throne of God above
I have a strong, a perfect plea,
A great High Priest whose name is
“Love,”
Who ever lives and pleads for me.
My name is graven on His hands,
My name is written on His heart,
I know that while in heav’n He stands,
No tongue can bed me thence depart.
When Satan tempts me to despair,
And tells me of the guilt within,
Upward I look and see Him there
Who made an end to all my sin.
Because the sinless Savior died
My sinful soul is counted free,
For God, the Just is satisfied
To look on Him and pardon me.
Behold Him there! The risen Lamb,
My perfect, spotless Righteousness,
The great unchangeable I AM,
The King of glory and of grace!
One with Himself I cannot die,
My soul is purchased with His blood,
My life is hid with Christ on high,
With Christ, My Savior and my God.
No comments:
Post a Comment