Isaiah 1:4-6 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.
“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.”
Making Application
To whom was this spoken? It was spoken to the children of
Israel of a specific time period in history in specific locations. But who were
they? They were God’s chosen people at that time, and they were God’s people by
physical birth, by being descended from Abraham, although they did not all
believe in God. But they were also a physical nation of people. So, if we try
to make application of any of this to our lives today, it is not exactly “apples
to apples,” for the church is not a physical nation but a spiritual nation, and
we are God’s people by spiritual birth, not by physical birth.
Nonetheless, we do have gatherings of the church in specific
locations in particular nations, and not everyone in these gatherings truly
believes in Jesus Christ, either, even though they profess him as Lord and
Savior. And what this is talking about is something that the church deals with,
too, and has dealt with all throughout the history of the church, I believe,
although some times were much worse than others, for certain. And I believe we
are in one of those “much worse” time periods, too.
Now I live in the physical nation of the USA (America), so
that is what I know and understand. So, what I share here I will share from
that perspective. And those of you who do not live where I do can apply this
however it applies in your nations and to your situations. For what this
describes here is prevalent in America. And the predominant religion in America
is Christianity, although not everyone claiming to be Christians in America are
true followers of Jesus Christ.
A Sinful Nation
Now I would definitely describe America as a sinful nation
like this describes that sinful nation of old. And from my observations over
many years of living in many different places and attending many different
gatherings of what is called “the church,” and via being on the internet the
past 18 years and reading the thoughts of others who call themselves
Christians, I would definitely say that the majority of those calling
themselves Christians here have forsaken the Lord and they are estranged from
him.
For the church in America, overall, but not in its entirety,
has become very worldly, and they have adopted the ways of the world in order
to attract the world to their gatherings and to keep them coming back for more.
And so they have also altered the gospel message to make it more attractive and
acceptable to human flesh. Thus, we have a whole lot of people professing to be
Christians and believers in Jesus Christ who are not living much differently
from those making no profession of faith in Jesus Christ.
And many Christians have become very immoral, too. For with
the internet and smart phones (pocket computers), it has opened up a whole
world of evil to people in total privacy where no one else can see what they
are doing. And many of them are engaged in some type of sexual immorality and
in the viewing of sexually explicit materials, such as videos and movies, in
total privacy. And some of them have gotten into all sorts of expressions of
sexual immorality that go way beyond the viewing of videos.
But those who are engaged in lewd and sexually promiscuous
behaviors will often hide their sins in secret so that others do not know what
they are doing. And so in order to keep their sins a secret they will lie, and
they will make up stories to cover for their secret sins, but not just so
others don’t find out, but also to give the sinner greater opportunity to
continue in those sins. And they may verbally attack anyone who gets close to
discovering what they are up to, also. For they don’t want to be found out.
Isaiah 1:16-17 ESV
“Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean;
remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes;
cease to do evil,
learn to do good;
seek justice,
correct oppression;
bring justice to the fatherless,
plead the widow's cause.”
So, this is the counsel of the Lord to all who profess faith
in Jesus Christ but who are living immoral and sinful lifestyles and who are
not walking in holiness and in righteousness and in obedience to the Lord
Jesus. And the counsel is really to throw off those sins which cling so closely
so that you can run the race God marked out for you to run. You need to cast
off those fruitless deeds of darkness and now, by the power of God, walk in
obedience to the Lord and in holiness and uprightness and in all honesty.
An
Original Work / September 11, 2012
Bombs are bursting. Night is falling.
Jesus Christ is gently calling
You to follow Him in all ways.
Trust Him with your life today.
Make Him your Lord and your Savior.
Turn from your sin. Follow Jesus.
He will forgive you of your sin;
Cleanse your heart, made new within.
Men betraying: Our trust fraying.
On our knees to God we’re praying,
Seeking God to give us answers
That are only found in Him.
God is sovereign over all things.
Nothing from His mind escaping.
He has all things under His command,
And will work all for good.
Jesus Christ is gently calling
You to follow Him in all ways.
Men deceiving: We’re believing
In our Lord, and interceding
For our nation and its people
To obey their God today.
He is our hope for our future.
For our wounds He offers suture.
He is all we need for this life.
Trust Him with your life today.
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