Skip to main content

Isaiah 9-13

ISAIAH
9:1-10:4  –  The prophecy has been spoken – ‘To us a Child is born, to us a Son is given…’. The prophecy has been fulfilled – ‘Today in the town of David a Saviour has been born to you: He is Christ the Lord’. Jesus Christ is our great Saviour. He is our ‘Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace’ (9:6: Luke 2:11). Jesus Christ has brought to us a great salvation. Through faith in Him, we enter God’s heavenly and eternal ‘Kingdom’ (9:7: Luke 1:30-33). This is ‘Good News of great joy’ – for ‘all the people’, for ‘all generations’. Let us rejoice in the Lord, as Mary, the mother of Jesus, did – ‘My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour… for the Mighty One has done great things for me…’. Let us join with the angels in saying, ‘Glory to God in the highest…’ (Luke 2:10; 1:46-50; 2:14).
10:5-34  –  ‘A few, the remaining few of Jacob, will return to the Mighty God…’ (21). So few people take time to worship the Lord. Are we to become discouraged? No! We must take encouragement from God’s Word: ‘The Light of Israel will become a fire, their Holy One a flame’(17). We must continue to pray for God’s blessing. ‘Let the flame burn brighter in the heart of the darkness, turning night to glorious day. Let the song grow louder as our love grows stronger; let it shine! let it shine!’. ‘Shine, Jesus, shine, fill this land with the Father’s glory; blaze, Spirit, blaze, set our hearts on fire. Flow, river, flow, flood the nations with grace and mercy; send forth Your Word, Lord, and let there be light!’ (Mission Praise, 743,445). May God give us grace to ‘truly rely on’ Him, ‘the Lord, the Holy One of Israel’ (20).
11:1-12:6  –  The family tree of ‘Jesse, the father of King David’ has a very special ‘Branch’ – Jesus Christ (11:1; Matthew 1:1,6,16). Jesus Christ has raised ‘a banner for the nations’. He is ‘the Saviour of the world’. He has died ‘for the sins of the whole world’. The ‘Good News’ is to be preached to ‘all the world’. Christ calls ‘all nations’ to ‘turn to Him’. He calls ‘all nations’ to receive the ‘forgiveness of sins’. He calls ‘all nations’ to become His ‘disciples’ (12; John 4:42; 1 John 2:2; Mark 16:15; Luke 24:47; Matthew 28:19). May our personal faith – ‘I will praise You, O Lord… God is my Salvation… The Lord is my Strength and my Song…’ – become our public testimony – making Christ ‘known among the nations’, telling ‘all the world’ what the Lord has done for us (12:1-2,4-5).
13:1-22  –  ‘The Day of the Lord is near; it will come like destruction from the Almighty… The Day of the Lord is coming – a cruel Day with wrath and fierce anger…’ (6,9). Christ’s Return will be a Day of salvation – ‘the Day He comes to be glorified in His holy people and to be marvelled at among all those who have believed’. It will also be a Day of judgment – ‘When the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven… He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the Gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord…’ (2 Thessalonians 1:7-10). Don’t let the Day of the Lord ‘surprise you like a thief’. It can be a Day of ‘salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ’. Trust ‘Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath’ (1 Thessalonians 5:1-4,9; 1:9-10).
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Romans 1-3

ROMANS 1:1-32 -  ‘I am not ashamed of the Gospel: it is the power of God for salvation to every one who has faith’ (16). Do you think it was easy for Paul to maintain such commitment to Christ, such confidence in Christ? What kind of world did he live in? – A world of ‘ungodliness and wickedness’ (18-31). Many times, Paul could have given up in despair – ‘There is too much ungodliness and wickedness all around me. How can I go on?’ When you feel like giving up, when everything seems to be so difficult, remember Paul. Remember his longing to ‘impart some spiritual gift’, his desire to ‘reap some harvest’ his eagerness to ‘preach the gospel’ (12-15). Let us say, with Paul, ‘God forbid that I should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ’ (Galatians 6:14). Let us be ‘set apart for the gospel of God’ (1). 2:1-29 -  None of us can ‘escape the judgment of God’. None of us can ‘presume upon the riches of His kindness’(3-4). We dare not come to God like the...
Post a Comment
Read more

1 John 5:1-21

1 John  5:1-21  What a great blessing we receive through faith in Christ - ‘Every one who believes that Jesus is the Christ is a child of God’ (1). Our life as God’s children is not a life of tranquility. We face conflict, real conflict - a battle. In this spiritual warfare, we have God’s promise of victory. In verse 5, we have a question: ‘Who is it that overcomes the world but he who believes that Jesus Christ is the Son of God?’. The answer is contained in the question. Our victory is in Christ. We are not victorious because our faith is so strong that we couldn’t possibly fail. Many times, we fail. We take our eyes off Christ - and we are defeated. What are we to do? - when temptations seem to be so many and so powerful. When you feel so weak, let Christ be your Strength. ‘With Christ within, the fight we’ll win’.
Post a Comment
Read more

Judges 4:1 - 6:10

Judges 4:1-5:11 Barak is an example of 'faith' (Hebrews 11:32-34). Faith involves believing God's promise - 'I will give...' and obeying His command - 'Go' (4:6-7). God still says, 'Go...I am with you always...' (Matthew 28:19-20). Barak needed Deborah's help (4:8-10). Both needed God's help - 'Our sufficiency comes from God' (2 Corinthians 3:5-6). In Deborah's song, we learn of the importance of giving all the glory to God: 'Bless the Lord...To the Lord I will sing, I will make melody to the Lord...Bless the Lord' (5:2-3,9). We are to repeat the triumphs of the Lord'. This is our high calling as 'the people of the Lord' (5:11). 'Awake, awake, Deborah'...Arise, Barak...' (5:12) - God is still calling His people to wake up, to rise up: 'Rise up O Church of God, awake!' ( Church Hymnary , 477; Mission Praise , 178). 5:12-6:10 'The people of the Lord marched down for ...
Post a Comment
Read more