Sunday, April 2, 2017, 4:36 p.m. – The Lord Jesus put in mind the song “Zeal for Your House.” Speak, Lord, your
words to my heart. I read Isaiah 61:1-4
(NASB).
Freedom for Prisoners (v. 1)
The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me,
Because the Lord has anointed me
To bring good news to the afflicted;
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to captives
And freedom to prisoners;
Although this is a prophecy
about Jesus Christ, we, as his body, also have the Spirit of God upon us, and
we have been anointed of God (2 Co. 1:21-22), and chosen of God to be “a royal
priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may
proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His
marvelous light” (1 Pet. 2:9). We are to bring the Good News to people, too. We
are to share with people how they can be turned from darkness to light and from
the power of Satan to God so that they can receive forgiveness of sins and a
place among those who are sanctified (purified) by faith in Jesus Christ (See:
Acts 26:16-18).
Jesus Christ, God incarnate
(in the flesh), died on a cross for our sins. He who knew no sin became sin for
us so that we might become the righteousness of God (2 Co. 5:21). He died that
we might die to sin and live to righteousness; that we might no longer live for
ourselves, but for him who gave his life up for us (1 Pet. 2:24; 2 Co. 5:15).
When he died, our sins died with him and were buried with him. When God the
Father resurrected him from the dead, Jesus rose victorious over sin, hell,
Satan and death on our behalf. Yet, not everyone is saved from their sins. We
must individually trust in Jesus Christ to be Lord and Savior of our lives, be
turned from our sin, and turn to God to walk in his light (truth,
righteousness).
When we are born into this
world, we are born with sin natures, separate from God, and without hope. We
are enslaved to sin and bound to spend eternity in the fires of hell. There is
nothing we can do, though, in our flesh, to be acceptable to God. We cannot
earn or deserve his grace or our own salvation. We will always come up short of
attaining his divine approval (Ro. 3:23). So, this is why Jesus gave his life
for us on a cross so that, through faith in him, we might be set free of the
punishment of sin (eternal damnation), be delivered out of bondage to sin and
the control Satan had over our lives, and be given new (eternal) lives in
Christ Jesus to be lived to his righteousness. He died, not just to forgive us
our sins, but that we might no longer be slaves to sin, but rather be slaves to
his righteousness (Ro. 6).
Grace and Justice (v. 2a)
To proclaim the favorable year of the Lord
And the day of vengeance of our God;
God’s grace to us, though, is
not free license to continue living in sin without guilt and without remorse.
His grace, which brings salvation, teaches us to say “NO!” to ungodliness and
worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives while we
wait for Christ’s return (Tit. 2:11-14). When we trust in Jesus Christ to be Lord
(owner-master) and Savior of our lives, we are crucified with Christ in death
to sin, and we are resurrected with Christ to newness of life, “created to be
like God in true righteousness and holiness” (See: Eph. 4:17-24; Ro. 6:1-23). “Our
old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away
with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin – because anyone who has died
has been freed from sin” (Ro. 6:6-7). Sin should no longer be our master.
Jesus said that, if we want
to come after him, we must deny self and take up our cross daily (die daily to
sin and self) and follow (obey) him. He said if we hold on to our old lives (of
living for sin and self), we will lose them for eternity (die in our sins).
But, if we lose our lives for Christ (die with him to sin), we will gain
eternal life (with God). Paul reiterated the same words when he said that if we
walk (in lifestyle) according to the flesh we will die in our sins, but if by
the Spirit we are putting to death the deeds of the flesh, we will live with
Christ for eternity (See: Lu. 9:23-25; Ro. 8:1-14). As well, John said that if
we say we have fellowship with God, but we walk (conduct our lives) in the
darkness (in sin), we don’t live by the truth (1 Jn. 1:6).
Comfort for the Contrite (vv. 2b-3)
To comfort all who mourn,
To grant those who mourn in Zion,
Giving them a garland instead of ashes,
The oil of gladness instead of mourning,
The mantle of praise instead of a spirit of fainting.
So they will be called oaks of righteousness,
The planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.
When we are enslaved to sin,
without hope, we are controlled by Satan and by our flesh. We are free from the
control of righteousness. We hurt and we hurt others. We destroy relationships
and we injure those who have done us no harm. We are on a path of self-destruction,
too. We make a practice of sinning with our lives, i.e. we lie, cheat, steal,
gossip, hate, commit adultery or fornication, slander, rage, curse, are
immoral, and/or we are unforgiving of others who sin just like us, etc. So,
this is why Jesus gave his life for us, so that we might be delivered out of
slavery (addiction) to sin, not just to free us from sin’s punishment or to
promise us heaven when we die.
Faith in Jesus Christ is not
something we generate in our own flesh. The faith needed to believe in Jesus
and to be saved from our sins is a gift from God to us. It is God’s divine
persuasion to us of his perfect will for our lives. When persuaded, we yield
control of our lives over to Christ, we trust him to deliver us out of slavery
to sin, and we submit to his will and purposes for our lives. We, in other
words, repent of (turn from) our sins in all humility and sorrow of heart, and
we turn to God to walk in his holiness and in his righteousness, to be who he
wants us to be, and to go where he wants us to go. We choose to no longer live
under the control of sin, but we choose, by the convincing of the Holy Spirit,
to walk in the ways of the Lord.
Then, the Lord comforts us
with his love, his grace, his mercy and his forgiveness. Where once we carried
around this weight of sin on our shoulders, now he has removed that, and we
have the peace of Christ in its place, and the joy of the Holy Spirit, and the
encouragement of the Father. Where we once denied Jesus by our lifestyles, now
our lives are to his praise and glory. Once we felt in despair and without
hope. Now we have the healing power of God in our lives, and we are filled to
overflowing with inexpressible joy. Once we floundered around having no purpose
and direction, but now we are filled with purpose, value and direction. Once we
had just a religion. Now we have a relationship with Almighty God.
Repairers and Rebuilders (v. 4)
Then they will rebuild the ancient ruins,
They will raise up the former devastations;
And they will repair the ruined cities,
The desolations of many generations.
When we believe in Jesus
Christ to be Lord and Savior of our lives, it does not mean that we are
instantly perfect, or that we never sin again. Scripture is very clear, though,
that if we willfully keep on sinning (make it our practice), there is no more
sacrifice for sins; we don’t have the promise of eternal life; we don’t know
God; and we don’t love God, although we may say that we do. There has to be a
spiritual transformation which takes place in our hearts, of the Spirit of God.
We must be born again of the Spirit. If there is no change of heart and mind,
and we just keep trucking the way we did before, we don’t really know God. It
is just that plain and simple.
On the other hand, scripture
is also clear in showing us that it is possible for true believers in Jesus
Christ to fall back into sin, and to come back under a yoke of slavery. It is
possible for Christians to become lazy and complacent about their relationships
with Jesus and to neglect time with him in prayer, in his word, and in
following him in obedience. It is also likely that some will forget that they
have been cleansed from their sins, and that they will begin following the ways
of the world once again (See: Rev. 2-3, for example). So, although they don’t
need to be “born again” again, they may need to be revived, renewed and restored
to a proper relationship with their Lord.
So, if you have never
repented of your sins, and if you have never had that change of heart and mind
away from a life of sin to a life of living to God and to his righteousness,
then I pray you will turn your life over to Jesus today. As well, if you did
believe in Jesus to be your Savior, but at some point in your life since then,
you have fallen back into sin or if you have become complacent and lazy about
your spiritual walk of faith, I pray you will return to your Lord and that you
will allow him to restore you to himself. I pray you will forsake all which you
know is displeasing to God, and that you will choose to follow him in obedience
from this day forward – all in the power, strength and working of His Holy
Spirit now living within you, for the glory of God. Amen!
Zeal for Your House
An Original Work / August 1,
2016
Based off Jn. 2:17; Ps. 69:9
Zeal for Your house, it
consumes me.
Lord, I love my times with
You.
I love to worship You and
sing Your praises.
Time in Your Word brings me
closer to You,
List’ning to You speaking to
me,
Gently guiding me in truth.
Lord, You are my life’s
example,
Showing me how I should live.
I love to walk with You
where’er You lead me.
No greater joy have I when
serving You.
Loving, giving, resting in
Your strength,
I’m yielding to Your will.
Zeal for Your house, it
consumes me.
See the church turned upside
down:
Marketing ventures taking
place of worship,
Men of the gospel turning
into clowns.
Gospel message made
appealing,
So the world will feel at
home.
Lord, we need a great
revival.
Turn their hearts, Lord, back
to You.
Open the blind eyes, turn
them all from darkness,
Lord, to the light. May they
return to You,
Turn from their sin, forsake
idols,
Be restored to God again.
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