Skip to main content

Isaiah 4-8

ISAIAH
4:1-5:17  –  ‘Those who are left… will be called holy’ (4:3). The world speaks of God’s people with contempt – ‘the holy people who need to learn to live in the real world’. When God calls His people ‘holy’, He speaks in a very different way. He speaks with affection. He looks upon us with love. We are special to Him. We are precious in His eyes. God loves us and He calls us to be holy. We are to live as those who have been set apart for God. We are not to live for this world only. There is something else, something greater than this so-called ‘real world’. There is a world that is unseen and eternal, heavenly and glorious. This is our higher calling, our call to holiness. Let us ‘look to the things that are unseen and eternal’. Let us ‘press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus’ (2 Corinthians 4:18; Philippians 3:14).
5:18-6:13  –  God reveals His holiness: ‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts’ (3). In His holiness, we see our own sinfulness: ‘I am a man of unclean lips’ (5). God is perfectly holy: ‘Your eyes are too pure to look on evil’ (Habakkuk 1:13). When we look at ourselves in the light of God’s perfect holiness,  we see the truth concerning ourselves: ‘All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God’ (Romans 3:23). There is no room for excuses. We must confess our sin. We must pray for God’s forgiveness: ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner’ (Luke 18:13). To those who come to Him with a true confession of sin, God speaks His Word of forgiveness: ‘your guilt is taken away, and your sin forgiven’ (7). The Lord has saved us. Let us serve Him. Let us pray, ‘Here am I! Send me’ (8). Let us share the Good News of His forgiveness.
7:1-25  –  Isaiah looked ahead to the coming of ‘Immanuel’ – ‘God with us’ (14; Matthew 1:23). We look forward to the Second Coming of Immanuel: ‘Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be His people, and God Himself will be with them and be their God’ (Revelation 21:3). The Second Coming of our Lord Jesus Christ presents us with a challenge: ‘When the Son of man comes, will He find faith on earth?’ (Luke 18:8). He calls us to ‘stand firm in our faith’. We must not ‘shrink back ‘ from Him. We must ‘believe and be saved’ (9; Hebrews 10:37-39). Jesus says, ‘I am coming soon’. Let us pray, ‘Come, Lord Jesus’. Let us pray that our ‘love’ for Him will not ‘grow cold’. Let us pray for strength to ‘stand firm to the end and be saved’ (Revelation 22:7,12,20; Matthew 24:12-13).
8:1-22  –  ‘Immanuel… God is with us’ (8,10). Jesus Christ has come to be with us so that we might go to be with Him. He has come from heaven to earth so that we might go from earth to heaven. He died for us that we might live with Him. He does not return to heaven alone. He ‘brings many sons to glory’: ‘Here am I, and the children the Lord has given me’ (18; Hebrews 2:9-10,13). Jesus speaks to us of  the glory of the Father’s House’. He shares this glory with us: ‘I go to prepare a place for you… I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also’. He invites us to enter this heavenly glory.  He is ‘the Way, the Truth and the Life’. Without Him, we cannot enter heaven: ‘No one comes to the Father except through Me’. Through faith in Him, we receive ‘eternal life’ (John 14:1-3,6; 6:40).
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