A Desperate Situation

If you do a quick read through of the first couple of chapters of Romans you will very quickly realize how desperate our situation is. You will see how devastating the affects of our sin really is. We have been separated from God. Here in Isaiah 59, Isaiah is showing God’s people how desperate their situation is. He tells them that because of their sin God had to hide his face from them. They were guilty of murder, lies, violence, evil, and all kinds of wickedness. They were completely separated from God.

We are in the same situation that the people of Israel are in. Our sin has completely separated us from God. Because of our sin we have no access to God. The Bible tells that there is no one who is righteous, not even one person. So no one can stand before God and have access to Him. He can not even look at us because He is to holy and righteous. How does that make you feel?

Weeping Over Sin

Do you feel like the people of Israel did in Isaiah 59:9-15a? This section is a lament of the people. They came to the realization of their wickedness and they cried. Not only did they cry but they wept. They realized that they were walking in darkness. They were hoping for justice against their enemies but it did not come. They knew salvation was far away because of their sin and they knew they did not deserve it.

We need this attitude. We need to realize how wicked our sin really is. All sin is wickedness. All sin separates us from God. A lot of times we like to down play our sin and say that we are not as bad as other people. All that does is shows that you are living by a worldly standard and not God’s standard. Pray and ask God to give you His heart toward sin, to see it for what it really is; wickedness. When we see sin like God see’s it, the grace of God will be evident in every aspect of your life.

Salvation

In the last section we see God intervening for His people to bring salvation for them and judgment for their enemies. The people were repentant. They recognized their sin and turned from it and God honored that. This is speaking of a future time when Christ will return and bring call His people home and bring judgment to all His enemies.

Are you an enemy of God? I doubt that there are a ton of people that would call themselves an enemy of God(though I know there are some) but what does it mean? Do you actually have to call yourself an enemy of God? The Bible is very clear about what it means to be an enemy of God. Jesus said in Matthew 12:30 “Whoever is not with me is against me.” If you are not a friend of God, you are an enemy of God whether you view yourself as that or not.

James, in his epistle takes it a step further in James 4:4 “friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.” Are you a friend of the world? Do you allow things in your life that are worldly and don’t do anything about it? Do things of the world appeal to you more than things of God? Do you have sin in your life that you just don’t care about? That is a dangerous place to be. Don’t be an enemy of God!

For a message given by Pastor Jon Lee on James 4 titled “The Test – How Much Has The World Marked You” click here

Jesus said in Matthew 15:8 that, “the people honor me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.” Same is true of the people in Isaiah’s day. They were going through the motions to look religious. They were fasting and praying yet they were still not loving the people around them. The first issue here is that they were not extending the love to the people around them and the second issue was their religiosity.

1 John 4:7-8 says, “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.” See God has loved His people so much, He redeemed them out of Egypt into the promised land. He showed Mercy by not whipping them out. He showed Grace by giving them what they didn’t deserve. Yet, God’s people still couldn’t extend that same love, mercy and grace to other people.

Aren’t we the same way? We love it that Jesus paid for our sins, even though He didn’t have to. Even though we did nothing to deserve it, and still we say we can’t forgive people because of something they did to us. See, the bible says that if you don’t love people with the same love that God showed to us by sending His son to die on a cross for our sins, then we really have no understanding of what Christ has really done. If we really did understand what Christ did on the cross then we can’t help but love people in the same way. Jesus paid for our sins once for all and yet we still say, “I just can’t forgive Johnny, you don’t know what he did to me.” GET OVER IT, because Jesus doesn’t come around and say, “I just can’t forgive Billy, He has hurt me too much.”

The bible says we were born as enemies to God! We were born as terrorists to the holiness of God, but God still decided to send His son to ultimately pay for all our sins. That is why we read John saying that if anyone does not love, then they don’t know God – because when we realize that all our sins are paid for by Christ we can’t help but extend that self sacrificing love to those around us.

Where are you today? Have you contemplated what Christ has done for you on the Cross? Are you looking religious but still hating your neighbor? If so you need to open your bible and read it because John says that you have no idea who God is, if you say your a Christian but still hold grudges and hate your neighbor.

Here is last Friday’s message given by Pastor Jonathan Lee. It is from our study in the book of James. In this message we look at James 4:1-10 as James talks about not being a friend of the world.

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THE FEAST

Who did Jesus(The Servant) die on the cross for? Was it for the Jews only? Was it only for a select group of people? No! He was sacrificed for anyone who would believe. John 3:16 says it pretty clearly. And here the LORD is saying that if anyone is thirst’s for Him, come and drink. If anyone is Hungry, come and eat. There is a feast and everyone is invited. Only instead of water He offers forgiveness. Instead of food He offers himself. No money necessary.

So everyone has been invited but how do you get in to enjoy the forgiveness and presence of God? 55:7 tells us clearly. We must repent and confess Jesus as Lord. Repenting means that we confess our sin and then we turn away from our sin. This is what God wants from everyone. 2 Peter 3:9 says “… not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.” The Lord wants everyone to come. But the door will not be open forever(55:6). Have you repented? Do you know people who have not? Time is running out.

HIS WAYS ARE NOT OUR WAYS

Does it ever seem to you like God does not know what He is doing? Maybe you are going through a hard time in life and you have already thought of the best possible solution and prayed and told God about it but He has not done it.You know exactly what it would take to make things right again but God is waiting. What is He waiting for? It’s in times like these that we MUST remember Isaiah 55:8-9 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD. 9For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”

God has promised that He will work things out for good for those who love Him(Romans 8:28). And since God’s ways are above our ways and He is working things out for good, can we possibly come up with a better solution than God? I don’t think so. Instead of figuring out the best way for God to fix our situation, let’s let God be God and learn to be content with where God has us knowing that He IS working. This is the God that spoke you and I into existence. Just His words have the power to accomplish anything that He wants(Isaiah 55:11).

One day you will be able to look back and see God’s hand working in your situation. You can’t see it right now but know when you do see it you will be blown away by how good God’s plan is. You will then understand why God was not answering that prayer or doing things the way you want. His ways are above our ways, His thoughts are above our thoughts!

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It’s all about Jesus

Yesterday we talked about being ready for Christ to return for His people and we briefly touched on the only reason that we are able to go to Heaven is because of what Christ did for us on the cross. In today’s chapter, the whole thing is about Jesus and what He accomplished and experienced on the cross. This chapter is proof that God is the author of scripture because the details about the death of Jesus are so specific that no mere man could accurately predict what would happen to Jesus 700 years before it happened. Read this chapter a few times. Study it and learn it. It’s all about Jesus.

Isaiah here is pointing to the suffering servant who would pay for all the sins of the people. The people of Judah needed a Savior. They longed for someone to put their trust in but they would not trust in God. They looked and looked, nation after nation for protection and safety not realizing that God was there and waiting for them and now God reveals His ultimate plan to save His people from their sin, which is their ultimate need and ours too!

Our sin has separated us from God. We were born in sin and even the tiniest of sins is enough to come between us and God. And because God is a just God and He can not have anything to do with sin He made a way for our sin to be paid for. One of the things that you learn from the very beginning of the Bible is that sin requires death as payment.  That is why the Israelites made sacrifices to God. But God in His love sent His own Son to die for our sin. It was the blood that Christ shed, the wounds that He received, and by His stripes that we are healed. We have been set free from the bondage of sin and Christ made peace between us and God.

Do you believe in Jesus? Do you believe that He was murdered on the cross for our sake? Do you believe that He rose again defeating death and the grave? If not, what is holding you back? This prophesy was given about Jesus 700 years before Jesus was even born. When you read the account of Jesus trial, death, and resurrection in the Gospels, it matches perfectly with Isaiah 52-53. Coincidence? I don’t think so. It was God revealing His plan for the salvation we so desperately need.

Are you interested in this salvation? Do you want to know God? Do you want to know that you will go to Heaven when you die? Surrender your life to God. Turn from your sin and ask Christ into your heart. For more info check out www.harvest.org/knowgod/

If you do ask Christ into your heart, leave a comment in the comments section below.