“‘The Redeemer will come to Zion…”
EDITOR'S LETTER
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Many people love reading Isaiah chapters 40-66 because they find so many words of comfort and promise regarding the coming of Jesus Christ to bring salvation to His people. While that is a general theme of these chapters, the people of Judah were still rebuked because of their sins and failure to seek God as they ought.
Chapter 59 does not begin with words of comfort. Instead it begins with God’s response to the people’s complaint that He had not responded to their pleas for help. As Isaiah pointed out, it was not through lack of power that God did not save the people of Judah. In verse 1, “Behold, the LORD’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; nor His ear heavy, that it cannot hear.” The real problem was the people. They persisted in their sinful ways, which is why God said to them, “But your iniquities have separated you from your God; and your sins have hidden His face from you” (verse 2). All sorts of sins are described in the verses that follow, including the attitude of their hearts, “Their feet run to evil… their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity” (verse 7). It is not surprising that they did not experience God’s peace because God says, “There is no peace for the wicked” (Isaiah 57:21). God promised blessing for His people if they obeyed Him, but with it came the threat of the curse if they disobeyed Him (see Deuteronomy 28 for example).
Earlier, in chapter 58, the people were condemned for the manner in which they fasted. Isaiah told them to repent and show mercy toward their fellowmen. If they did, they would receive a blessed result: “Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer; you shall cry, and He will say, ‘Here I am’” (Isaiah 58:9).
The chapter ends with a message of hope, beginning in verse 16 where we read about the work of God: “Therefore His own arm brought salvation for Him.” Salvation is not a work of man, but the gracious work of God through His Son, Jesus Christ, who came to die in the place of sinners for their salvation. What wonderful words we read in verse 20, “‘The Redeemer will come to Zion, and to those who turn from transgression in Jacob,’ says the LORD.” This is a message of hope for all people. You cannot earn your salvation, but God saves all those who turn from their sins and look to Him in Jesus Christ by faith.
Great Words of Charles Spurgeon
Image source: John Thomas, circa 1875
In March, 1861, the Metropolitan Tabernacle was opened in London, England, to replace the original church buildinng at New Park Street Chapel. That building was too small to cater for the large crowds that came to hear Charles Spurgeon preach. His first sermon in the new building was on 25 March, 1861, and these opening words set the tone for his ministry in the church:
I would propose that the subject of the ministry in this house, as long as this platform shall stand and as long as this house shall be frequented by worshippers, shall be the person of Jesus Christ. I am never ashamed to avow myself a Calvinist, I do not hesitate to take the name of Baptist;but if I am asked what is my creed, I reply, “It is Jesus Christ.” My venerate predecessor, Dr. Gill, has left a body of divinity, admirable and excellent in its way, but the body of divinity to which I would pin and bind myself forever, God helping me, is not his system, or any other human treatise, but Christ Jesus, who is the sum and substance of the gospel, who is in Himself all theology, the incarnation of every precious truth, the all-glorious personal embodiment of the way, the truth, and the life.
Just over thirty years later on 7 June, 1891, while suffering extreme physical pain, he preached what was to be his last sermon in Metropolitan Tabernacle. These are his closing words:
If you wear the livery of Christ, you will find Him so meek and lowly of heart that you will find rest unto your souls. He is the most magnanimous of captains. There never was His like among the choicest of princes. He is always to be found in the thickest part of the battle. When the wind blows cold He always takes the bleak side of the hill. The heaviest end of the cross lies ever on His shoulders. If He bids us carry a burden, He carries it also. If there is anything that is gracious, generous, kind and tender, yea lavish and superabundant in love, you will always find it in Him. These forty years and more have I served Him, blessed be His name, and I have had nothing but love from Him. His service is life, peace and joy. Oh that you would enter on it at once! God help you to enlist under the banner of Jesus Christ.
Charles Spurgeon preached Christ and Him crucified for sinners because he knew this is the only way of salvation. This is still true today.
Hymn - Sovereign Ruler of the Skies!
1. Sovereign Ruler of the skies!
Ever gracious, ever wise!
All my times are in Thy hand,
All events at Thy command.
2. His decree, who formed the earth,
Fixed my first and second birth;
Parents, native place and time,
All appointed were by Him.
3. He that formed me in the womb,
He shall guide me to the tomb;
All my times shall ever be
Ordered by His wise decree.
4. Times of sickness, times of health,
Times of penury and wealth;
Times of trial and of grief,
Times of triumph and relief.
5. Times the tempter’s power to prove,
Times to taste a Saviour’s love:
All must come, and last and end,
As shall please my heavenly Friend.
6. Plagues and deaths around me fly,
Till He bids I cannot die:
Not a single shaft can hit
Till the God of love thinks fit.
7. O Thou Gracious, Wise and Just,
In Thy hands my life I trust:
Have I somewhat dearer still?
I resign it to Thy will.
8. May I always own Thy hand
Still to the surrender stand;
Know that Thou art God alone,
I and mine are all Thine own.
9. Thee, at all times, will I bless;
Having Thee, I all possess;
How can I bereaved be,
Since I cannot part with Thee?
(By John Ryland, 1777)
How to Receive a Double Blessing
“And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.”
You may have heard people say things like, “I don't need to go tochurch because I can worship God everywhere.” It seems like a really good answer, and holy too! However, as the directory of public worship rightly points out, “A service of public worship is not merely a gathering of God’s children with each other, but before all else, a meeting of the triune God with His chosen people. God is present in public worship not only by virtue of the Divine omnipresence but, much more intimately, as the faithful covenant Saviour.”
To say it a different way, if a believer decides to forsake meeting together, not only is he disobeying God, but he is neglecting the most important gathering in the world. As one author put it, “Therefore, when God’s people meet together for worship, that meeting is of more significance than a summit meeting of heads of state to decide on a treaty of peace between great nations. It is more important than a meeting of the city council or the state legislature, more important than a meeting of the United Nations or of Congress or Parliament. For in that meeting God Himself meets with His people.”
Church is important, not just because God commands us to gather with His people, but because public worship is the place of the greatest blessing! The other day I was speaking with someone about why gathering for public worship twice on the Lord's Day is a good idea and something came out of my mouth that I hadn’t really thought about until that moment. If you attend a second time, you get God’s call to worship, twice; God’s blessing, twice; prayers prayed for you, twice; God’s word preached, twice; God’s worship, twice; God’s blessing, twice; and God’s people in fellowship, twice.
The real question when you stop to think about it is, why don’t I want a double portion of God’s blessing?
(From “The Most Important Gathering in the World”By Logan Hagoort)
The Way of Wisdom
God gives us the path of true wisdom in Proverbs 3:5, “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding.” God can be trusted because He is the all-wise God who created heaven and earth and the vastness of the universe. He created you and all living things. His purpose for you is best and His law is holy, just and good (Romans 7:12). Based on all this, the way to experience true peace and joy in life is to trust wholeheartedly in the Lord.
Adam and Eve were created by God and initially experienced this peace and joy as they communed with God in the Garden of Eden. However, one day this changed. Instead of desiring the presence of God, they tried to hide from God. What was the cause of their change of heart? A failure to trust in the Lord with all their heart because they chose to lean on their own understanding. Let me explain.
Image source: Unsplash
God placed Adam in the garden and said to him, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die” (Genesis 2:16, 17). One day, the serpent spoke to Eve and told her that she would not die if she ate from the tree, but that if she ate from it she would be like God, knowing good and evil. Upon hearing that, Eve began to lean on her own understanding instead of trusting in the Lord with all her heart. She looked at the fruit and saw that it was pleasant to the eyes and good for food. She also had the desire to become wise in the way that the serpent described to her. In doing so, she put aside her former trust in the God who said the fruit of that tree was harmful and would result in death. Eve ate the fruit of the tree and gave some to Adam, who also ate.
The result of this was tragic. Adam and Eve fell into sin. No longer were they perfect, knowing only to do what is good. Their trust was no longer fully in their God, but they looked to themselves and tried to determine what was wise. This resulted ultimately in their death. How true are the words of Scripture, “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death” (Proverbs 14:12; 16:25).
“It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man.”
People today are the same. They trust more in their ability to work things out or go to other people or read books to find advice for living instead of going straight to the Bible to find out what God says. Psalm 118:8 says, “It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man.” If only people believed that and lived accordingly. Trust in the Lord who created you and who sovereignly rules over all the earth.
Abraham was a man who trusted in the Lord instead of leaning on his own understanding. There are many examples of this in the Bible. It is not surprising, therefore, that we read things such as, “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness” (Romans 4:3).
God told him to leave his home country and his family and go to a land that God would show him. Obedience to God in that instance would appear foolish in the eyes of men. People would see Abraham preparing to leave home and ask him where he was going, to which he would reply, “I am going to a land that God will show me.” When people asked him where that land was, he would say, “I don’t know.” As you can imagine, people must have thought he was foolish. Abraham was not a youth going on an adventure. He was seventy-five years old. But Abraham went. Why? Because he trusted in the Lord instead of leaning on his own understanding.
“By faith, Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, of whom it was said, ‘In Isaac your seed shall be called,’ ”
Later in life, God told Abraham to go to the land of Moriah and offer up his son Isaac as a burnt offering. Isaac was the son through whom God promised to make a great nation out of Abraham. Abraham didn’t question God, but simply trusted and obeyed. He built an altar and placed the wood and his son Isaac on the altar. As he raised his knife to kill Isaac, the Angel of the Lord told him to stop. Why did Abraham do such a thing which many people would consider abominable and which could result in the death of his beloved son? The perfect answer is found in Hebrews 11, “By faith, Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, of whom it was said, ‘In Isaac your seed shall be called,’ concluding that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead, from which he also received him in a figurative sense” (Hebrews 11:17-19).
Abraham was a man who lived his life trusting in God. He believed that whatever God said was right and was to be obeyed. He did not lean on his own understanding. Even when God’s word seemed foolish according to man’s standards, he believed that God knew what was best and that he must do whatever God said. This is genuine trust in the Lord. Pray that God will help you to be like Abraham and to trust in Him fully.
We hope you enjoyed the excerpts from this month’s volume of The Christian Informer.
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