Thursday, January 26, 2012– Read – Isaiah 35:1-10Isaiah 35:1-10
English: King James Version (1611) - KJV
35
1 The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose.
2 It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing: the glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it, the excellency of Carmel and Sharon, they shall see the glory of the LORD, and the excellency of our God.
3 Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees.
4 Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come with vengeance, even God with a recompence; he will come and save you. fearful: Heb. hasty
5 Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped.
6 Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing: for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert.
7 And the parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water: in the habitation of dragons, where each lay, shall be grass with reeds and rushes. grass...: or, a court for reeds, etc
8 And an highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called The way of holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it; but it shall be for those: the wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein. but...: or, for he shall be with them
9 No lion shall be there, nor any ravenous beast shall go up thereon, it shall not be found there; but the redeemed shall walk there:
10 And the ransomed of the LORD shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.
WP-Bible plugin
Today in History
1779 – Pioneer American Methodist bishop Francis Asbury wrote in his journal: “We should so work as if we were to be saved by our works; and so rely on Jesus Christ, as if we did no works.”
1802 – Congress passed an act calling for a US Capitol library.
1918 – The US food administrator Hoover calls for “wheat less” & “meat less” days to aid in the war effort.
1940 – The Nazis forbad Polish Jews to travel on trains.
1998 – President Clinton said “I want to say one thing to the American people, “I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky” (So much for believing any elected officials)
Isaiah 35:8-10Isaiah 35:8-10
English: King James Version (1611) - KJV
8 And an highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called The way of holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it; but it shall be for those: the wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein. but...: or, for he shall be with them
9 No lion shall be there, nor any ravenous beast shall go up thereon, it shall not be found there; but the redeemed shall walk there:
10 And the ransomed of the LORD shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.
WP-Bible plugin
“And a highway will be there, and a way and it will be called “The way of holiness”; the impure will not pass over it; but it will be for the strangers and pilgrims of this world, though the foolish will not wander on it. No wicked or violent sinner will be on it; but the redeemed will walk there: And the ransomed of the LORD will return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy on their heads: they will overtake joy and gladness, and sorrow and groaning will run away.”
After portraying for us the terrible judgment and destruction that will take place in the day of the Lord, Isaiah changes the focus and brings a welcome promise of blessing to the believer. Peter brings this promise as well to the believer. “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief comes in the night; the heavens will pass away with a loud noise, and the elements will come apart with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are in it will be consumed by fire. Seeing then that all these things shall be come apart, what manner of persons ought you to be in all holy manner of life and godliness, as we look for and hurry toward the coming of the day of God, when the heavens being on fire will come apart, and the elements will melt with fervent heat? Nevertheless, we who believe, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, where the righteous will dwell.” (2 Peter 3:10-132 Peter 3:10-13
English: King James Version (1611) - KJV
10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.
11 Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness,
12 Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat? hasting...: or, hasting the coming
13 Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.
WP-Bible plugin)
The entire curse that was brought as the result of man’s sin is gone! “And the LORD God said unto the serpent, “Because you have done this, you are cursed more tan all cattle, and beast of the field; upon your belly you will go, and you will consume rubbish all the days of your life: And I will put hatred between you and the woman, and between your off spring and her off spring; her off spring will crush your head, and you will strike out at his heel.” To the woman he said, “I will greatly multiply your labor and your pregnancy; in pain you will bring forth children; and your desire will be to your husband, and he will have dominion over you.” And to Adam he said, “Because you have obeyed the noise of your wife, and have eaten of the tree, that I commanded you, saying, “You will not eat of it: cursed is the ground for your sake; in pain you will eat of it all the days of your life; Thorns also and thistles will spring up to you; and you will eat the plants of the field; In the sweat of your face you will eat food, until you return to the ground; for out of it you were taken: you are of the dust, and you will return to dust.” (Genesis 3:14-19Genesis 3:14-19
English: King James Version (1611) - KJV
14 And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:
15 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.
16 Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee. to thy...: or, subject to thy husband
17 And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;
18 Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; bring...: Heb. cause to bud
19 In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.
WP-Bible plugin) Everything that burdens life now will not exist for those that have been redeemed by Jesus Christ.
“And God will erase all tears from their eyes; and there will be no more death, nor sorrows, nor crying, neither any more pain: for the past things are gone.” (Revelation 21:4Revelation 21:4
English: King James Version (1611) - KJV
4 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.
WP-Bible plugin) What makes you cry? They will be gone! What makes you remember with sorrow the past? It will no longer exist.
What does that include? What will be changed? Peter reminds us that only the righteous will dwell there. Nevertheless, we who believe, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, where the righteous will dwell. God excludes all others. Isaiah told us that, “the foolish will not wander on it. No wicked or violent sinner will be on it”. “But the fearful, and those without faith, and the abominable, and murderers, and whores, and drug users, and the covetous, and all liars, will have their destiny in the lake which is burning with fire and brimstone: this is the second death. (Revelation 21:8Revelation 21:8
English: King James Version (1611) - KJV
8 But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.
WP-Bible plugin) “And none will enter it that makes it unclean, nor any who do any evil thing, or tells any lie: but they who are written in the Lamb’s book of life.” (Revelation 21:27Revelation 21:27
English: King James Version (1611) - KJV
27 And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb's book of life.
WP-Bible plugin) Some would contend that all will be excluded according to those verses. But we must understand that the righteous are included.
Who are righteous? We must look first at who the unrighteous are. “For as by one man’s (Adam) disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one (Jesus Christ) many will be made righteous. Moreover the law entered, that sin might be clearly understood. But where sin exists, grace does super abound: That as sin has reigned to bring death, even so grace reigns through righteousness to eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Romans 5:19-21Romans 5:19-21
English: King James Version (1611) - KJV
19 For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.
20 Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound:
21 That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.
WP-Bible plugin) All men have been born sinners since Adam sinned. “The wicked are made strangers (to God) in the womb: they go wander away as soon as they are born, speaking lies.” (Psalm 58:3Psalm 58:3
English: King James Version (1611) - KJV
3 The wicked are estranged from the womb: they go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies. as soon...: Heb. from the belly
WP-Bible plugin) How then can man become righteous enough to enter heave. Paul told the Romans that “where sin exists, grace does super abound” or becomes much greater. Grace, simply put, is God giving to man what man does not deserve or earn. How does this happen? “Therefore in the same manner that the sin one brought judgment on all men to damnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came on all men resulting in justification of life.” (Romans 5:18Romans 5:18
English: King James Version (1611) - KJV
18 Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. by the offence...: or, by one offence by the righteousness...: or, by one righteousness
WP-Bible plugin) Justification is the act of God whereby He declares man to be without sin. Can man achieve justification on his own? “The Pharisees also, who were covetous, heard all these things: and they mocked him. He said to them, “You justify yourselves before men; but God knows your inner man: for that which is highly valued among men is abomination in the sight of God.” (Luke 16:14-15Luke 16:14-15
English: King James Version (1611) - KJV
14 And the Pharisees also, who were covetous, heard all these things: and they derided him.
15 And he said unto them, Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God.
WP-Bible plugin) No, it is God’s action that declares him to be without sin. The righteous then are those that God has justified by grace.
Our focus in life must be then not the troubles, tribulations and difficulties of our lives today, but the blessings and promises of God forever.
Blessing to you.