Isaiah{59:18} According to [their] deeds, accordingly he will repay, fury to his adversaries, recompence to his enemies; to the islands he will repay recompence. {59:19} So shall they fear the name of the LORD from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun. When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the LORD shall lift up a standard against him.{59:20} And the Redeemer shall come to Zion, and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob, saith the LORD.{59:21} As for me, this [is] my covenant with them, saith the LORD; My spirit that [is] upon thee, and my words which I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seed’s seed, saith the LORD, from henceforth and for ever.
How mighty is the Lord, how amazingly mighty. He would have us know that this isn't some silly game, that life isn't something without consequence. There is a battlefield and we all play upon it every single one of us. The Lord shows forth His majesty, His power, His love, because in truth, we know even in our day that good and evil exist and while evil often seems to have the upper hand it will be good that wins out in the end. Sounds like a silly fairy tale, or one of those sappy love stories? Let it, there is a reason why those stories exist, why people created them and why they were and are so popular. People have hope and often when they don't find it in their own lives they're willing to try and find it even in stories because it does exist.
The enemies will be vanquished ultimately. All will fear and reverence the name of the Lord. While the enemy is seemingly overwhelming, the Lord alone is mighty enough to destroy them.
In our individual lives we fight the same battle on a daily basis and we have a Redeemer if we turn from sin.
Yes, I said it.
Yes, I meant it.
Jesus is our Redeemer, without Him there is no hope at all, none. Yet sin separates us from God. As He forgives us our sins and we are redeemed it's out of sin we are redeemed, not in it. The breech that separates us is gone. Jesus forgives us and we repent and turn from our sins. We go to Jesus all caught up in our sins and He forgives us as we ask for forgiveness. In asking for forgiveness we recognize our sins, we recognize our unworthiness and cling to Jesus' grace and mercy to forgive- knowing that we have much to be forgiven for. To know we've done wrong is to recognize the wrong. To know you're a sinner is to recognize the sin you commit. Once awareness exists and we plead for forgiveness we are telling God that we know this sin we've committed has separated us from Him and we don't want to be separated from Him we want to be with Him. Jesus forgives us. He understands. A true repentant heart is something He is very familiar with. The repentant heart knows that the sin is wrong and is something to be turned from. Will turning from sin save us? Never. Only Jesus can save us. Out of love we don't want to sin, we don't want to keep doing the things that will separate us from God. Yes, sin offers all the pleasures you can imagine. Sin is addictive. Sin is insidious not wanting to ever let us go. If even a single sin is cherished it's enough to separate us from God. We have to lay our hearts open to God and accept the forgiveness He offers and choose to let the Holy Spirit work within us, listening to the Holy Spirit as our conscience reveals the sins in our lives and offers us a choice.
None of this is easy, none of it, but God will prevail easy or not, in the end ALL sin will be done away with. Every sinner that has not gone to Christ and embraced His gift of salvation with a true repentant heart, will be destroyed. There isn't going to be any last second reprieves, no surprise ending where everything turns our happily ever after for those choosing to sin. 'According to their deeds, accordingly he will repay...' We have hope in Jesus, He is our only hope. Clinging to Him through faith is the hope we have. The deed of seeking forgiveness will be repaid accordingly, as well as the deed of embracing sin and having no hope, no faith.
Thousands and thousands of years ago those words were written- 'and my words which I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seed’s seed, saith the LORD, from henceforth and for ever.' And guess what? It's true. Today the words are still being spoken.
Isaiah{60:1} Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee. {60:2} For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the LORD shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee. {60:3} And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising. {60:4} Lift up thine eyes round about, and see: all they gather themselves together, they come to thee: thy sons shall come from far, and thy daughters shall be nursed at [thy] side.{60:5} Then thou shalt see, and flow together, and thine heart shall fear, and be enlarged; because the abundance of the sea shall be converted unto thee, the forces of the Gentiles shall come unto thee. {60:6} The multitude of camels shall cover thee, the dromedaries of Midian and Ephah; all they from Sheba shall come: they shall bring gold and incense; and they shall shew forth the praises of the LORD. {60:7} All the flocks of Kedar shall be gathered together unto thee, the rams of Nebaioth shall minister unto thee: they shall come up with acceptance on mine altar, and I will glorify the house of my glory. {60:8} Who [are] these [that] fly as a cloud, and as the doves to their windows?{60:9} Surely the isles shall wait for me, and the ships of Tarshish first, to bring thy sons from far, their silver and their gold with them, unto the name of the LORD thy God, and to the Holy One of Israel, because he hath glorified thee. {60:10} And the sons of strangers shall build up thy walls, and their kings shall minister unto thee: for in my wrath I smote thee, but in my favour have I had mercy on thee. {60:11} Therefore thy gates shall be open continually; they shall not be shut day nor night; that [men] may bring unto thee the forces of the Gentiles, and [that] their kings [may be] brought.{60:12} For the nation and kingdom that will not serve thee shall perish; yea, [those] nations shall be utterly wasted. {60:13} The glory of Lebanon shall come unto thee, the fir tree, the pine tree, and the box together, to beautify the place of my sanctuary; and I will make the place of my feet glorious. {60:14} The sons also of them that afflicted thee shall come bending unto thee; and all they that despised thee shall bow themselves down at the soles ofthy feet; and they shall call thee, The city of the LORD, The Zion of the Holy One of Israel.{60:15} Whereas thou hastbeen forsaken and hated, so that no man went through [thee,] I will make thee an eternal excellency, a joy of many generations. {60:16} Thou shalt also suck the milk of the Gentiles, and shalt suck the breast of kings: and thou shalt know that I the LORD [am] thy Saviour and thy Redeemer,the mighty One of Jacob. {60:17} For brass I will bring gold, and for iron I will bring silver, and for wood brass, and for stones iron: I will also make thy officers peace, andthine exactors righteousness. {60:18} Violence shall no more be heard in thy land, wasting nor destruction within thy borders; but thou shalt call thy walls Salvation, and thy gates Praise. {60:19} The sun shall be no more thy light by day; neither for brightness shall the moon give light unto thee: but the LORD shall be unto thee an everlasting light, and thy God thy glory. {60:20} Thy sun shall no more go down; neither shall thy moon withdraw itself: for the LORD shall be thine everlasting light, and the days of thymourning shall be ended. {60:21} Thy people also [shall be] all righteous: they shall inherit the land for ever, the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, that I may beglorified. {60:22} A little one shall become a thousand, and a small one a strong nation: I the LORD will hasten it in his time.{61:1} The Spirit of the Lord GOD [is] upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to [them that are] bound;
Remember-
Luke {4:18} The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, {4:19} To preach the acceptable year of the Lord. {4:20} And he closed the book, and he gave [it] again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him. {4:21} And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.
The prophet Isaiah foretold of so much and he did so in words that could be understood. The glorious coming of a Redeemer, a life where God is worshipped as He should be by a people that love Him. The glory of it alone is so overwhelmingly amazing. It sounds to good to be true and we try and try to imagine it and we can when we realize that it's not promised as long as sin reigns. For as long as sin reigns mourning will exist and these are days when all mourning has ended and that won't be until Christ comes again and then after that the earth is made new and there is no more sin, the enemies are gone once and for all.
Isaiah{61:2} To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn; {61:3} To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified.{61:4} And they shall build the old wastes, they shall raise up the former desolations, and they shall repair the waste cities, the desolations of many generations. {61:5} And strangers shall stand and feed your flocks, and the sons of the alien [shall be] your plowmen and your vinedressers.{61:6} But ye shall be named the Priests of the LORD: [men] shall call you the Ministers of our God: ye shall eat the riches of the Gentiles, and in their glory shall ye boast yourselves.{61:7} For your shame [ye shall have] double; and [for] confusion they shall rejoice in their portion: therefore in their land they shall possess the double: everlasting joy shall be unto them. {61:8} For I the LORD love judgment, I hate robbery for burnt offering; and I will direct their work in TRUTH, and I will make an everlasting covenant with them.{61:9} And their seed shall be known among the Gentiles, and their offspring among the people: all that see them shall acknowledge them, that they [are] the seed [which] the LORD hath blessed. {61:10} I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath coveredme with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh [himself] with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth [herself] with her jewels. {61:11} For as the earth bringeth forth her bud, and as the garden causeth the things that are sown in it to spring forth; so the Lord GOD will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations.{62:1} For Zion’s sake will I not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest, until the righteousness thereof go forth as brightness, and the salvation thereof as a lamp [that] burneth. {62:2} And the Gentiles shall see thy righteousness, and all kings thy glory: and thou shalt be called by a new name, which the mouth of the LORD shallname. {62:3} Thou shalt also be a crown of glory in the hand of the LORD, and a royal diadem in the hand of thy God. {62:4} Thou shalt no more be termed Forsaken; neither shall thy land any more be termed Desolate: but thou shalt be called Hephzi-bah, and thy land Beulah: for the LORD delighteth in thee, and thy land shall be married.{62:5} For [as] a young man marrieth a virgin, [so] shall thy sons marry thee: and [as] the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride, [so] shall thy God rejoice over thee. {62:6} I have set watchmen upon thy walls, O Jerusalem, [which] shall never hold their peace day nor night: ye that make mention of the LORD, keep not silence, {62:7} And give him no rest, till he establish, and till he make Jerusalem a praise in the earth.{62:8} The LORD hath sworn by his right hand, and by the arm of his strength, Surely I will no more give thy corn [to be] meat for thine enemies; and the sons of the stranger shall not drink thy wine, for the which thou hast laboured: {62:9} But they that have gathered it shall eat it, and praise the LORD; and they that have brought it together shall drink it in the courts of my holiness.{62:10} Go through, go through the gates; prepare ye the way of the people; cast up, cast up the highways; gather out the stones; lift up a standard for the people.{62:11} Behold, the LORD hath proclaimed unto the end of the world, Say ye to the daughter of Zion, Behold, thy salvation cometh; behold, his reward [is] with him, and his work before him.{62:12} And they shall call them, The holy people, The redeemed of the LORD: and thou shalt be called, Sought out, A city not forsaken.
Right now those who are God's are His favored. Those who are not with God are those not favored. When Jesus comes He will come for those that are His and all those that aren't will see and understand. Those that choose not to be God's will know the error of their ways, they will understand the choices they made we're wrong, they will see the opportunities they had and how they squandered them. They will also know and see those who are Christ's and will have no choice but to realize that God's way truly was the way of the righteous.
Here and now we have so much pain and heartache, fleeting joys surrounded by lingering agonies and yet we try to cling to the hope it'll work out but don't seek the only source of hope.
We need Jesus. We need His mercy. We need the Holy Spirit of truth in our lives.
'For I the LORD love judgment, I hate robbery for burnt offering; and I will direct their work in TRUTH,'
The Lord loves judgment why? Because it is righteousness, it is the ultimate truth without deception, it is the perfect standard without any guile. Unlike our court system today where judges often get things wrong, there will be no wrong judgments from God, not one, they will all be perfect and just. Sacrifices are --
Psalms {51:17} The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.
False sacrifices, actions stemming not from a contrite heart, aren't acceptable to God.
Truth is the mercy and love of Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord.
The prophets of old knew this and all this would be passed down from generation to generation.
Jesus spoke of the prophets, used the scriptures and never said they were of no value and to be discarded.
You'll get people today who will try and set up *new* ways and call it God's way, Jesus' way, but in truth, the way was set from the beginning and we can see throughout the entire Bible, Old and New Testaments, that the love and truth of God is there, all of it.
We want our work directed in truth, God's truth. May God do that- may He direct our work in truth through the mercy and grace of His Son, may our work be in Him now and forever, in truth.
Amen.
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