Isaiah 30:1-5 ESV
“Ah, stubborn
children,” declares the Lord,
“who carry out a plan,
but not mine,
and who make an
alliance, but not of my Spirit,
that they may add sin to sin;
who set out to go down
to Egypt,
without asking for my direction,
to take refuge in the
protection of Pharaoh
and to seek shelter in the shadow of Egypt!
Therefore shall the
protection of Pharaoh turn to your shame,
and the shelter in the shadow of Egypt to
your humiliation.
For though his
officials are at Zoan
and his envoys reach Hanes,
everyone comes to
shame
through a people that cannot profit them,
that brings neither
help nor profit,
but shame and disgrace.”
Whenever we put our hope and trust in human beings to save
us, we are on dangerous ground. Whenever we put our hope and trust in the
things of this world, or in politicians or preachers or church buildings or the
economy, etc., we are trusting in people and things that are subject to failure
and/or that might actually turn against us.
Yet, so many people who profess faith in Jesus Christ are
trusting in themselves, in their own flesh, or in other humans, or in
relationships not sanctioned by God, or in their addictions, or in lies that
they tell themselves in order to appease their consciences, which then permit
them to continue in sinful practices unhindered and without guilt.
So many Christians are looking to other humans or to the
government, or to their jobs, their money, their homes, etc. to provide for
their needs. But, all of these are subject to fail us and/or to disappear. Nothing
of this world is permanent. We can’t put our dependency in man or in the things
of this world, and yet many do.
Isaiah 30:8-14 ESV
And now, go, write it
before them on a tablet
and inscribe it in a book,
that it may be for the
time to come
as a witness forever.
For they are a
rebellious people,
lying children,
children unwilling to
hear
the instruction of the Lord;
who say to the seers,
“Do not see,”
and to the prophets, “Do not prophesy to us
what is right;
speak to us smooth
things,
prophesy illusions,
leave the way, turn
aside from the path,
let us hear no more about the Holy One of
Israel.”
Therefore thus says
the Holy One of Israel,
“Because you despise
this word
and trust in oppression and perverseness
and rely on them,
therefore this
iniquity shall be to you
like a breach in a high wall, bulging out
and about to collapse,
whose breaking comes suddenly, in an
instant;
and its breaking is
like that of a potter's vessel
that is smashed so ruthlessly
that among its
fragments not a shard is found
with which to take fire from the hearth,
or to dip up water out of the cistern.”
Some people naively put their trust in politicians,
preachers, the news media, and the system of government within a nation, while
others knowingly refuse God’s instructions to them, and they choose to follow
man over God. Their flesh craves what man has to offer them, and so they ignore
God’s commandments in order to follow after the lusts of their flesh.
They don’t like the truth, because the truth restricts their
ability to keep on in their sinful practices and in their adulteries. And, so
they reject the truth, and they end up following after the lie, instead,
because they don’t want to let go of what they know is wrong, is harmful, and
is against God.
But, they don’t just lie to themselves. They lie to others,
too, because they want to keep their secretive world a secret. So, they might
even put on a false show of righteousness in order to cover-up their “alliances”
that are not of God. But, they are depending on a lie, and they are counting on
that lie not being revealed, so that they can continue to seek shelter in what
is against God, and in what is against His Word.
So, in order to appease their consciences, they shut out the
truth, and they refuse to hear the instruction of the Lord, the whole counsel
of God. And, so they “cherry pick” the scriptures that they like, out of
context, which agree with their chosen lifestyles. And, they hold on to those
half-truths in order to console themselves when they even begin to feel any
guilt at all.
So, they also have to silence those who are still preaching
the truth of the gospel of our salvation. So, first of all, they try to do this
by trying to persuade those who are still preaching the truth to leave the
right way, and to get off that path of righteousness. And, so they try to
convince them that what they are teaching is “works-based” salvation and that
what they should be teaching is really “true grace.”
But, God has the final word in this. And, their folly will
be revealed for what it is, eventually. One day it is all going to come
crashing down, and then what will they be left with? All that they put their
dependency in will not help them. It will not save them.
For, the only salvation for them, and for any of us, is via
the cross of Christ, in death to sin and in living to Christ’s righteousness in
the power of God (Rom. 6:1-23; Rom. 8:1-17; Eph. 4:17-24; 1 Jn. 1:5-9; Tit.
2:11-14).
Isaiah 30:15-18 ESV
For thus said the Lord
God, the Holy One of Israel,
“In returning and rest
you shall be saved;
in quietness and in trust shall be your
strength.”
But you were
unwilling, and you said,
“No! We will flee upon
horses”;
therefore you shall flee away;
and, “We will ride
upon swift steeds”;
therefore your pursuers shall be swift.
A thousand shall flee
at the threat of one;
at the threat of five you shall flee,
till you are left
like a flagstaff on the top of a mountain,
like a signal on a hill.
Therefore the Lord
waits to be gracious to you,
and therefore he exalts himself to show
mercy to you.
For the Lord is a God
of justice;
blessed are all those who wait for him.
The only hope for any of us is for us is to put our hope and
trust in Jesus Christ and in His Word. And that trust, that faith is God-given,
and it is divinely persuaded. And, thus it submits to Christ as Lord, and it
leaves lifestyles of sin behind us, and it follows our Lord in obedience to his
ways.
But, far too many people today who profess faith in Jesus
Christ are not willing to fully surrender their lives to Christ. They are not
willing to die to their sinful lifestyles in order that they might live to
Christ and to his righteousness. For, they want to hold on to their sinful
practices. They want to continue in their adulteries unhindered, and without
guilt.
And, so they put their hands up to God’s face and they tell
him “NO!” And, they shut him out of their lives, and they do not let him inside
because they don’t want to stop doing what makes them “feel good.” But, one day
it is all going to come back to bite them. For, scripture teaches that if we walk
according to the flesh, we are going to die in our sins, because we refused to
die to our sins.
But, our Lord is a loving and a merciful God. He is not
willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. And, so
he is waiting patiently for those who are now unwilling to heed his voice to
return to him with their whole hearts. But, he won’t wait forever. And, you
might not live to have the opportunity to repent of your sins, either.
But, just know that God’s grace to us is not freedom to
continue in willful, habitual, rebellious and premeditated sin against God. God’s
grace, which brings salvation, instructs us to say “NO!” to ungodliness and
worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives while we
wait for his return (Tit. 2:11-14; Rom. 6:1-23; Rom. 8:1-17; Eph. 4:17-24).
Also know what the Word of God says regarding how we are all
going to reap what we sow. If we sow to please the flesh, from the flesh we
will reap destruction. But, if we sow to please the Spirit, by the Spirit, then
from the Spirit we will reap eternal life (Gal. 6:7-8; Rom. 2:6-8; Gal.
5:16-21).
For, Jesus Christ died on that cross that we might die with
him to sin and live to him and to his righteousness. He shed his blood on that
cross in order to buy us back for God, that we would now be God’s possession,
and that we might now honor God with our lives.
In fact, he died that we might no longer live for ourselves,
but for him who gave his life up for us (1 Pet. 2:24; 1 Co. 6:20; 2 Co. 5:15,
21; Tit. 2:14; Eph. 2:10; Rom. 6:1-23; Eph. 4:17-24).
So, we are to follow in the footsteps of Jesus, going
wherever he leads us, and we are to forsake our sinful lifestyles in order to
follow him in obedience.
Footprints of Jesus
Lyrics by Mary B.
Slade, pub. 1871
Music by Asa B.
Everett
Sweetly, Lord, have we heard Thee calling,
Come, follow Me!
And we see where Thy footprints falling
Lead us to Thee.
Though they lead o’er the cold, dark mountains,
Seeking His sheep;
Or along by Siloam’s fountains,
Helping the weak.
If they lead through the temple holy,
Preaching the Word;
Or in homes of the poor and lowly,
Serving the Lord.
Though, dear Lord, in Thy pathway keeping,
We follow Thee;
Through the gloom of that place of weeping,
Gethsemane!
If Thy way and its sorrows bearing,
We go again,
Up the slope of the hillside, bearing
Our cross of pain.
By and by, through the shining portals,
Turning our feet,
We shall walk, with the glad immortals,
Heav’n’s golden street.
Then, at last, when on high He sees us,
Our journey done,
We will rest where the steps of Jesus
End at His throne.
Footprints of Jesus,
That make the pathway glow;
We will follow the steps of Jesus
Where’er they go.
Copyright status is
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