Isaiah 1:2-3 ESV
“Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth;
for the Lord has spoken:
‘Children have I reared and brought up,
but they have rebelled against me.
The ox knows its owner,
and the donkey its master's crib,
but Israel does not know,
my people do not understand.’”
The Body of Christ
The church, the body of Christ, is the family of God. We who
believe in Jesus Christ to be Lord and Savior of our lives with God-given faith
are God’s children. And times have not changed a whole lot, for there are still
many of God’s children today who have turned their back on God, and who are
rebelling against him, and who are going their own way.
Some of them never did come to genuine faith in Jesus Christ
so they are illegitimate children who are claiming Jesus as their Savior. But
they never died with Christ to sin, and they never lived to God and to his
righteousness. For they bought into a false gospel that told them that all they
had to do was “believe” without really explaining to them what it means to
believe in Jesus.
But it isn’t just that, many are being taught that God does
not require repentance, obedience, and submission to him as Lord, as though
that all went away with the Old Covenant. But it didn’t. Jesus demanded full
submission to him, and repentance, and obedience. And his NT apostles taught
the same. Faith in Jesus is still equal to obedience to Him.
But there are those who believed in Jesus with genuine
God-given faith, who did follow him in obedience, and who walked by faith, but
then they got drawn into this modern cheap grace gospel which convinced them
that they could live like the world and in sin and still have salvation from
sin and eternal life with God. So, they turned away from obedient faith in
Jesus.
God’s Plan of Salvation
Now, this is where it helps to understand God’s plan of
salvation for our lives. For, Jesus died that we might die with him to sin and
live to him and to his righteousness. He died that we might no longer live for
ourselves but for him who gave his life up for us. Jesus shed his blood for us
on that cross to buy us back for God (to redeem us) so we would honor God with
our bodies.
When we believe in Jesus Christ with God-given faith, we are
crucified with Christ in death to sin, and we are raised with Christ to newness
of life in him, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.
Jesus delivered us from our bondage (addiction) to sin so that we would now be
slaves of God and of his righteousness, no longer living under sin’s control.
And Jesus said that if anyone would come after him, to be
one of his disciples (not optional for the believer in Jesus), he must deny
self, take up his cross daily (daily die to sin and to self) and follow (obey)
him. For, he said if we try to save our old lives we will lose them for
eternity, but if we lose our lives for his sake (die with him to sin), we have
eternal life.
Our salvation from sin is not a one-time deal and then
heaven is guaranteed us. Our salvation is progressive. We are saved (past), we
are being saved (present), and we will be saved (future) when Jesus returns and
our salvation is then complete, provided that we continue in him, and we abide
in him and in his word, and that we walk in obedience to his commands.
For, we are all going to reap what we sow in this life. If
we sow to please the flesh, from the flesh we will reap destruction. But if we
sow to please the Spirit, from the Spirit we will reap eternal life. If sin is
what we practice, it ends in death, but if righteousness is what we practice,
it ends in eternal life. If we obey the Lord, it ends in life. If we don’t
obey, it ends in death.
[Lu
9:23-26;
Jn 6:35-58; Jn 15:1-11; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-17; Eph 4:17-24; 1 Pet 2:24; 1 Co 6:9-10, 19-20; 2 Co 5:10, 15; Tit 2:11-14; Jas
1:22-25; Gal 5:16-21; Eph 5:3-6; Gal 6:7-8; Rom
2:6-8; Matt 7:21-23; Heb
10:26-27; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Rom 12:1-2; Eph 2:8-10]
Isaiah 1:4 ESV
“Ah, sinful nation,
a people laden with iniquity,
offspring of evildoers,
children who deal corruptly!
They have forsaken the Lord,
they have despised the Holy One of Israel,
they are utterly estranged.”
People Laden with Iniquity
We, as followers of Jesus Christ, are the church. We are a
holy nation, a spiritual nation, not a physical one like the Israelites of the
Old Covenant. We are the children of promise. God no longer dwells in
buildings. We are the temple of God. God lives within us, his people. The
church is who we are. We are not some location we go to once or twice a week. God
is present with us no matter where we are or when we meet together.
But the church overall here in America, which is a blend of
the true church and a false church meeting together in an unholy union, is largely
living in adultery against the Lord and in idolatry. For she is putting other
gods above God, she has pushed the Holy Spirit right out of her gatherings, and
now she is following marketing schemes of men on how to build Christ’s church.
Jesus is not her head, not in practice, but men and the
flesh are her head, and big business, and the government, etc. For she is
largely relying on the flesh to conduct the gatherings of the church, to preach
sermons (or talks), and to “worship” God. And she is following the “talks” and “motivational
speeches” of men more for her direction than the word of God.
And so she is living very worldly, blending in with and
immersing herself in today’s culture so that she can connect and identify with
the people in the world. And this is apparent by how the gatherings of the
church mostly are about appealing to the felt needs of the people of the world
and about pacifying the flesh, and they are not about true worship of God.
Isaiah 1:5-6 ESV
“Why will you still be struck down?
Why will you continue to rebel?
The whole head is sick,
and the whole heart faint.
From the sole of the foot even to the head,
there is no soundness in it,
but bruises and sores
and raw wounds;
they are not pressed out or bound up
or softened with oil.”
The Church under Judgment
I believe it is apparent that the present day modern church
in America is under the judgment of Almighty God in our day and time. And this
is because she lost her saltiness and she hid her light under a bushel. And she
adopted human philosophy and psychology and marketing schemes in place of the
teachings of the Scriptures.
She bought into this whole modern philosophy that says we
are to “stay in your own lane” and not say anything that would offend anyone.
And that we are not to judge anyone, including Christians who are living in
sin. And the gospel has been reduced to just hanging out with your neighbors
and doing “good deeds” for them, which they call “being the gospel.”
Sharing the truth of the gospel verbally is now frowned upon
because they say that is being judgmental. Or they call it legalism or “works-based
salvation” or being rude. They don’t want anyone to feel bad about their sin,
and so they coddle them in their sins and give them excuses and the freedom to
continue living in their sin, only now without guilt.
And this is why the American church is under judgment and
why our nation, as a whole, is in the spiritual condition that it is in where
sin is now running rampant all over the place. And that is because the church
has lost its witness and they are silencing the Holy Spirit and are attacking
the Lord’s messengers and his gospel.
But the Lord is still calling out to his people to repent of
their sins and to return to him as their only Lord, and to walk in his ways and
in his truth, and to go with him wherever he leads them. He still has a plan
and a purpose for your life if you will surrender your life to him. And he will
be with you wherever you go, and he will give you all you need to live for Him.
Breath Of Heaven (Mary's Song)
Songwriters: Amy
Lee Grant / Chris Eaton
I have traveled many
moonless nights
Cold and weary with
a babe inside
And I wonder what I've
done
Holy father you have
come
And chosen me now to
carry your son
I am waiting in a
silent prayer
I am frightened by
the load I bear
In a world as cold
as stone
Must I walk this
path alone?
Be with me now
Be with me now
Breath of heaven
Hold me together
Be forever near me
Breath of heaven
Breath of heaven
Lighten my darkness
Pour over me your
holiness
For you are holy
Breath of heaven
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