Isaiah 1, Part 2

19 If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land; 20 but if you refuse and rebel, you shall be eaten by the sword; for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

Scripture says, “To obey is better than sacrifice (1 Samuel 15:22) and to listen better than the fat of sacrificial rams.”  It goes on to say that rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft.  In Exodus 22:18 it say you shall not allow a witch to live.  Several years ago in Seattle, Washington the schools were forbidden to celebrate Halloween; not because it is an abominable celebration (which it is) but because it was unkind to witches and put them in a bad light.  How far we have fallen in this country to protect witches and atheists while prosecuting Christians and Jews.  I’m not saying that we should kill all the witches or atheists but it is apparent that God’s love and grace has been twisted to allow the theft of our national heritage. 

Since this nation has largely chosen to ignore the commandments of God and to use abusive police and military practices to keep order rather than obtaining it through our love for God and man, we have chosen the sword.  Matthew 26:52 says, “Those who live by the sword will also die by the sword.”  This goes for the police and those who immorally use deadly force as well as any who choose violence over love, grace, mercy and forgiveness.  I even hear a lot of Christians who say, “I have several guns in my house.  Nobody is taking anything from me!”  At a time when Jesus was being ILLEGALLY detained and ILLEGALLY prosecuted and ILLEGALLY condemned by the religious establishment as well as the local government he told Peter, “Put away your sword!”  Then He healed the man Peter had wounded.

21 How the faithful city has become a whore, she who was full of justice! Righteousness lodged in her, but now murderers.

In many cases our courts and police have become exactly what they used to abhor.  The idea that the end justifies the means is the new mantra rather than to keep the already written laws and uphold them.  The first amendment of the Constitution allowed freedom of religion and worship unimpeded by the government.  It has been ‘redefined’ by the courts to mean that religion needs to stay out of government.  Whenever God says, “Woe!” it should be marked and trembled over.  Isaiah 5:20 says, “Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness; Who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!” 

Israel had once been a nation of God’s laws, love and justice.  Once again those who were led by greed and avarice (including the priesthood) began to pervert and twist God’s laws.  In very few years His most stringent and powerful laws went from “Thus Saith the Lord” to “God suggests that we…” to “Oh!  How quaint that people used to think that way.  I’m so glad we’ve evolved.”  In Nevada where prostitution is legal they call those women (and men) hospitality workers.  I guess that’s a different take on temple prostitutes.

22 Your silver has become dross, your best wine mixed with water.

Have you ever watched the purification of silver?  It is heated in a furnace and then the dross, the scum that floats on the surface and could not stand the heat is scraped off and discarded.  During this process a tiny amount of silver is also lost but the purity of the refined metal is worth a bit of loss.  Purifying your life from sin is also worth a bit of loss.  When God chastens, do not rebel. 

Today, we don’t want to refine silver too much because in our greed we reason that “who will know?”  When the silver tarnishes in moments and with any heat, they will know and curse you.  I once bought a beautiful necklace.  I purchased it in Mexico and it was lovely.  When I opened the box at home it had turned brown.  I was able to polish it again but it turned your skin black.  If I melted it today I suppose most of it would float to the surface.

Wine is supposed to be made of crushed grapes, not grape juice and water.  Too much water and the sugar content will not turn into alcohol.  Not enough alcohol content in the wine will not longer protect it from biological processes.  It will become moldy and smell.  Too much water and it will no longer preserve.  Like salt that has lost its savor, it will be worthless.  People water down wine because again they reason, “Who will know.”  During a wedding in Cana of Galilee our Savior performed his first miracle and in doing so He set an example for us to follow. 

The couple were apparently those in the priesthood but not well off.  They had purchased the best wine they could afford and well before the reception was ended they had run out.  Mary, who was worried about their feelings, approached Jesus with her concerns.  He took the water of purification that was in the house and began to pour wine out of it.  When the governor of the feast tasted it he called over the groom and proclaimed that the wine offered at the end of the feast was much better than the wine at the beginning (John 2:1-10).  God does not cut corners with your blessings.  You ought not cut corners with your obedience. 

23 Your princes are rebels and companions of thieves. Everyone loves a bribe and runs after gifts. They do not bring justice to the fatherless, and the widow's cause does not come to them.

I have heard it said that the most efficient and positive form of government is a benevolent dictatorship.  Without the word benevolent you may well wind up with a violent and abusive dictatorship.  I once read that a true king and prince is one who smiles brightest and laughs loudest in a gathering where all are hungry.  In other words, the true prince or king sets an example either of gracious hospitality or keeping a positive outlook while suffering.  They do not bleed their people so they can live high while the sheep suffer.  Some pastors fleece the flocks and others nurture the flock.  It is true that sheep need to be sheared for good health, but they don’t want to become lamb chops. 

In an honest world bribes are not taken or offered and a leader should not run after them (Exodus 23:8, Hebrews 13:5-6, Amos 5:12).  True leaders are upholding the cause of the fatherless and widows.  They should be a very real part of every government and Christian ministry.  God lays this burden upon us all. 

24 Therefore the Lord declares, the Lord of hosts, the Mighty One of Israel: “Ah, I will get relief from my enemies and avenge myself on my foes. 25 I will turn my hand against you and will smelt away your dross as with lye and remove all your alloy.

Notice that God says He will get relief from His enemies.  He goes on to say that He will turn His hand against them.  He is talking about Jews here.  He is not saying that He has abandoned the Jews though.  He is instead working to bring spiritual healing to them, melting the dross with lye and removing all the alloy.  Alloy is the extra metal whether lead or tin that is often added to silver to make it easier to work and cheaper to produce.  Silver is a type of the blood and one can imagine that God does not want the blood to be diluted.  I love that when He turns against His people it is to bring repentance and holiness rather than destruction and defeat. 

26 And I will restore your judges as at the first, and your counselors as at the beginning. Afterward you shall be called the city of righteousness, the faithful city.”

The first thing many do when they find themselves in difficulty or struggles with their faith or with God is to stop attending church.  They complain bitterly about what all the OTHER saints are doing or point fingers at someone other than themselves.  Perhaps I’m peculiar in that way but I have always thought that if something is going wrong in my life and things aren’t working out, it probably has something to do with me…not someone else. 

Notice the first thing God does after destroying entire groups of people is to correct those responsible for judgment and righteousness.  Our judges today have abandoned God and make their decisions based on man’s wisdom or peer pressure.  Some may decide according to greed.  The first thing God does to fix a nation is to approach judges and then counselors.  In America today we have an entire group of judges who abandon their responsibility to the truth by letting uneducated, racist or angry juries make the uninformed decisions. 

Lawyers have become purveyors of passion rather than expounders of truth.  They know that if they touch a nerve with the jury it matters very little what truth is.  God said, “You will know the truth and the truth will MAKE you free (John 8:32).”  Prosecuting attorneys regularly trample the truth in order to win a conviction.  In God’s court, HE is the prosecutor and we are the defendants.  Jesus is our defense attorney and though we are guilty, He need only raise His nail scarred hands and say, “Father, I have paid their debt.”  God’s grace IS sufficient.

27 Zion shall be redeemed by justice, and those in her who repent, by righteousness.

The difficulty in finding deliverance and forgiveness is not weakness on God’s part but pride on ours.  Scripture says that God gives grace to the humble (James 4:6).  He resists the proud and often allows their total destruction while lending a much appreciated hand to those whose sins are just as bad as anyone else’s but their heart is quick to say, “Lord, I repent.”  David was one of those who often fell short of the Word of God.  He had someone killed when he discovered he had gotten that man’s wife pregnant.  He married many wives and concubines; perhaps not as many as his son Solomon did, but more than others did.  He was a murderer, adulterer, terrible father and worse husband. 

In spite of all this David is considered a man after God’s own heart.  The reason for his close walk with God is that David was always quick to repent and ask God’s forgiveness.  David was a mighty warrior and beloved king.  This didn’t keep several men from hating him, including his own son Absalom.  He conquered the impregnable Jebus (Jerusalem).  It became the city of David and is called that to this day.  Jesus will one day sit on the throne of David when all God’s enemies are under his foot. 

David loved God and as it says in Isaiah 54:17, “No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn.”  David walked in that because as verse 18 says, “Our righteousness is of God.”  It doesn’t matter nearly as much that we have sinned as that God has forgiven us.  If we live our lives in humility and are quick to repent, God will always restore our righteousness.  It is not bound in our failures but in our submission and repentance.  The world may not honor this idea but then the world cannot give us eternal life.

28 But rebels and sinners shall be broken together, and those who forsake the Lord shall be consumed.

There is a verse that says, “And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder (Matthew 21:42).  Rebels and sinners will be broken by the stone of God which is Jesus Christ our Lord.  They will either willingly fall upon the stone and allow themselves to be broken, or the stone will fall on them and grind them into dust.  On the other hand, those who forsake (leave) the Lord shall be consumed.  The Greek word for consumed is kala and means to be utterly destroyed.  There is hope for the rebels and sinners.  They may be saved; but those who abandon their walk with God and fail to repent will be consumed.  As it says in Hebrews 12:27-29, “And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. 28 Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear: 29 For our God is a consuming fire.”  Our God is a consuming fire.  Abandon Him and abandon hope. 

29 For they shall be ashamed of the oaks that you desired; and you shall blush for the gardens that you have chosen. 30 For you shall be like an oak whose leaf withers, and like a garden without water.

The gardens here are the groves where idolatrous practices were performed to false gods by Israel.  We have our groves today and God expects us to forsake those groves of sinful passions and pleasures except where done by His permission in the bond of marriage.  The oaks and terebinth trees were carved into phallic symbols and filthy sexual practices were performed before them.  Their purposes were to encourage the ‘gods’ to make their crops grow better and produce more abundantly. 

The LORD had promised to make Israel wealthy and fruitful if they would obey Him without following after false gods.  One of the main reasons they were to utterly destroy these foreign nations as they took over the land was to stop the pagan religious practices.  By failing in this matter they became polluted by their abominable practices.  The homosexual communities and those who still practice false religions are fond of saying that their practices have been going on for many thousands of years.  This is true.  God has sought their destruction or redemption for many thousands of years.

God chose Israel to correct mankind’s lack of direction.  After being established as a pillar of honor in a world of dishonor they were supposed to teach this lifestyle to the world at large.  They largely failed in this responsibility.  Instead of being a light on a lampstand or a city set upon a hill, they became what God abhors and followed after all the sins of the nations around them.  For this failure and disobedience God was forced to chasten them.

31 And the strong shall become tinder, and his work a spark, and both of them shall burn together, with none to quench them.

Are you strong?  Consider those men and women who believe our lifestyle is a lie and that there is no God.  Many of them are powerful and used to using authority.  What about the Hitlers and Stalin’s of the world?  Both of them murdered millions.  Hitler chose to decimate the Jews and Stalin had almost as much hatred of them as any other leader.  The attacks against Jews in Russia has been systematic and consistent. 

My point is this; whether you are talking about wayward Jews or those who hate the Jewish people, God’s wrath is quite powerful and consistent.  Tinder is a dry and fine wood that is used to start fires. Tinder can flame up at the lightest spark.  Oaks are supposed to be filled with sap and life.  A grass fire raging around an oak tree would normally singe the bark and then burn out leaving the tree alive and well.  God says the oaks have become as tinder, lifeless and dry; the life giving Spirit of God has departed and left them open to any slightest spark.

The very actions of the wayward saint become the spark that will devour his life and cause it to burst into flame.  Both the wayward and his works have become a flame of useless fire and without God’s grace there is no one to help them or stop this terrible destruction.  The very words of Jesus who became our propitiation for sin will come from the mouths of those who have turned aside, “My God, my God; why have you forsaken me?” 

In Gods words we hear the still small voice saying, “Because my child, you did not repent of your evil deeds.”

God gives grace to the humble (James 4:6, 1 Peter 5:5). 

Repent quickly.

Isaiah 1 - Part 1

1 The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.

The beauty of God’s Word is that it makes things as clear as they need to be to prove them with perfect clarity.  Isaiah is possibly the most important of all the prophetic writers.  He is certainly the longest.  Notice how it not only states the name of his father, but the breadth of his ministry (Judah and Jerusalem) and the time period (in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah). 

A vast majority of those on earth today believe the Bible is a semi-historical book of poetry, religious law and fantasy and that we who believe are crazy; however, we who believe in God know it is far more.  Since we are intimately aware of the concept of, and battle between, spiritual good and evil we know that Satan has a vested interest in making it appear to be a fantasy.  It will be cold comfort to those millions who spend an eternity in Hell to find out it is more true than their own existence in this spiritually created world we live in.

2 Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth; for the Lord has spoken: “Children have I reared and brought up, but they have rebelled against me.

How do I know that there is a devil and a fallen nature in man?  It’s simple.  Israel had everything; they were chosen by God and had seen miracle after miracle over the years.  In spite of those miracles they chose to rebel and drift away from the life God chose for them.  He made specific rules for them and they obeyed those rules as long as flashy miracles and passionate leaders reigned.  It was during the day to day humdrum lives that they began to follow after the gods of those surrounding nations.  It wasn’t enough to be blessed and prosperous; they felt like they were missing something that the other ‘cursed’ nations were enjoying.

When God denies you some act or lifestyle it isn’t to make you miserable, but rather so you can actually have life more abundantly.  The arguments for sin are often powerful, logical and even sound altruistic and noble.  In reality they are simply the way Satan chooses to lead you astray from the truth of God’s perfect word and lifestyle.  Satan is the father of lies and a murderer (John 8:44).  Jesus continues in verses 45-47 to say that if we don’t hear His words …it is because we are not of God.

3 The ox knows its owner, and the donkey its master's crib, but Israel does not know, my people do not understand.”

Have you ever heard someone called a dumb ox.  I would rather be a dumb ox or a donkey than to be a smart but devious trickster who leads others astray with flattering words and deeds.  Every day I hear from parents who want prayer for children who have strayed from the biblical teaching they were raised with.  Many have gone to college and become Buddhists or Muslims or nothing at all.  We send them to be taught by fallen depraved educators who believe nothing and teach less.  Unless our youth enter college with the zeal of an evangelist or the knowledge of Apostle Paul, we may well be sending them to their eternal doom.  This was the problem with Israel.  They did not obey God fully and the nations they allowed to live nearby them led them astray.  Professing themselves to be wise they became fools (Romans 1:22).

Israel was told to utterly wipe out any nation that lived near them.  God knew they would be curious and foolish if those nations were allowed to spread their demonic doctrines.  Today we read the demands of God to utterly wipe out these pagan nations and say He is an angry and evil God.  In reality, He tried to reach these nations for hundreds of years with no avail.  They spurned Him and tried to make His chosen people stumble.  When will we realize that apostasy and false gods are an eternal death sentence.  That does not mean they will cease to exist but suffer forever.  Our spirits are eternal.

4 Ah, sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, offspring of evildoers, children who deal corruptly! They have forsaken the Lord, they have despised the Holy One of Israel, they are utterly estranged.

Can you see the grieving parent here, weeping for His children.  He has fed and clothed them and protected them from all danger.  He warned them of their neighbors and they promised to stay away from their abominable practices.  We can’t seem to keep our focus for a day or week before we begin to temporize and say, “Does it really take all this?”  We take shortcuts in our prayers and only study occasionally.  Our parents are gone, dead and dust but we don’t even have their dedication.  We know what God’s Word says but …doesn’t that seem a bit – harsh.  Surely God can’t mean us to keep His Word perfectly …does He? 

Sins are fun, obedience is not.  Those other religions have temple prostitutes and for an offering to their god you can sleep with whoever you want.  Churches today offer beer night or wine tasting.  It’s all in good clean fun right?  Right?  It’s not our fault that God seems distant from us is it?  You might wonder sometimes why your prayers are not answered.  Is it because God is busy or because we are?  Lord (in name only), where are you?  God says, “I can’t hear you through your sins, attitudes and lusts.”

5 Why will you still be struck down? Why will you continue to rebel? The whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint. 6 From the sole of the foot even to the head, there is no soundness in it, but bruises and sores and raw wounds; they are not pressed out or bound up or softened with oil.

God’s desire for Israel; for the entire earth, is that they be full of life and truth.  Israel has always been the test case of humanity.  They are no worse or better than anyone else except that God chose them.  He gave them His love and power and help and they decided that living by His standards was just too hard for them.  Instead of asking yourself what is wrong in your life and striving to fix it, when God chastens us in love we look for another god who will let us get away with anything we want.  Oddly enough the Jews have been blessed throughout history, even when they were in exile.

God’s word is full of those who have been chastened and have fled from the chastening rather than draw closer to God for healing.  I hear people every week saying, “I’m going to leave God.  He doesn’t treat me right.  I hate my life.”  Jesus said, “I come that you might have life and have it MORE ABUNDANTLY (John 10:10).  If He comes to give us more abundant life then why do we run from Him simply because parts of our lifestyle do not meet with He or His Father’s approval.  Just change.  God never changes.  It is up to us to come into line with His will (Deuteronomy 32:28-39).  He’s not going to change His will to make sin less sinful.

7 Your country lies desolate; your cities are burned with fire; in your very presence foreigners devour your land; it is desolate, as overthrown by foreigners. 8 And the daughter of Zion is left like a booth in a vineyard, like a lodge in a cucumber field, like a besieged city.

After her sins, Israel is abandoned and emptied of all value or wealth.  The people are captured, the wealth ransacked and carried off.  All the blessings God allowed them to obtain over the years have been scattered and dispersed.  The cities are burned and they were forced to watch impotently as the best and brightest are carried off as slaves.  Verse 8 is descriptive of a nation with nothing left to steal.  It describes the entire nation as an empty watchman’s booth after the harvest.  The value is gone and there is no longer any reason to guard it.  This is the nation as God sees it.  It is almost completely forsaken.

9 If the Lord of hosts had not left us a few survivors, we should have been like Sodom, and become like Gomorrah. 10 Hear the word of the Lord, you rulers of Sodom! Give ear to the teaching of our God, you people of Gomorrah!

God's faithfulness in the midst of Israel's total apostasy and idolatry is quite spectacular.  It would appear that He has accepted Abraham's prayer for leniency as a type of the sacrifice to come through Jesus.  In Genesis 18:25 he asks, “What if there are only 50 righteous in Sodom and Gomorrah?  Will you destroy them all?”  God said He would spare those cities for as little as 10 righteous.   He did not find them and though Abraham went that far and no farther, God in His grace went farther to the point where He would not allow His angels to destroy the cities while Lot and his family abode there (Genesis 18:1-19). 

Israel was not quite that bad.  There was a remnant left that were somewhat faithful to the God of Israel.  They were hungry and in a pitiful state.  The neighboring nations abused them and persecuted them (Nehemiah 1:1-3).  They were a laughing stock and derision.  This great Israel has fallen and their God has abandoned them (Amos 5:1-3).  Their crops are gone, the wealth is stolen and all the best and brightest have become slaves (Daniel 1:1-6).  What happened to the light, the virgin bride Israel?  They were supposed to be holy to God, His chosen bride, but they were unfaithful.

11 “What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices? says the Lord; I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of well- fed beasts; I do not delight in the blood of bulls, or of lambs, or of goats. 12 “When you come to appear before me, who has required of you this trampling of my courts?  Bring no more vain offerings; incense is an abomination to me.

God looks at Israel and asks, “Why do you bother to sacrifice to me; assemble in my temple or bow your head before me?  You bow your head but not your hearts.  You kill animals without number and sacrifice with hands covered in the blood of man.  You have destroyed lives and wiped out the future of the poor and yet you burn incense to me day and night.  Stop the sacrifices and offerings.  I will not hear you or see your false piety (Isaiah 58:3-8).”  God does not answer pretty words and fair speeches.  God answers a pure and humble heart.

13 New moon and Sabbath and the calling of convocations — I cannot endure iniquity and solemn assembly. 14 Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hates; they have become a burden to me; I am weary of bearing them.

This is not an indictment against holy days or solemn assemblies.  This is against a solemn assembly to serve God with wicked hands.  This speaks against the lying pastor who preaches with skill and passion but then robs the members or cheats on his wife.  God abhors the apostle who goes about from church to church preaching God’s will while neglecting his own home or robbing the people.  When God says, “Be ye holy for I the Lord thy God am holy, He means it (Leviticus 11:44-45, 19:2).  God will not support or honor sin and deceit.  Your prayers will not be heard.

15 When you spread out your hands, I will hide my eyes from you; even though you make many prayers, I will not listen; your hands are full of blood.

Have you stolen your neighbor’s property or slain his ox or lamb for your food?  Have you killed in your anger and thought, “God does not see.”  There is nothing hidden from the eyes of God (Hebrews 4:13).  We pray to be seen by God.  Scripture says, “This is the confidence that we have that if we pray according to the will of God He hears us and if we know He hears us we will have the petition we have asked of Him (1 John 5:14).”  We can only have this confidence if our prayers AND our lives walk together.  God will not hear even a great prayer if we have a darkened and blood stained heart or hands.

16 Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes; cease to do evil, 17 learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow's cause.

Saints, we cannot continue to curse the sinner or speak death to those who have fallen short.  God is giving grace, love and strength to those who are weak and He is turning former sinners into incredibly powerful saints.  Jesus came to redeem the world of murderers, liars, cheats and thieves and make them holy.  He will not allow us to continue in our sin and bear His name nor will He allow us to walk over and wound the weak and powerless (Mark 12:38).  God expects more from us and demands that we give it.  Our mandate is that we walk in the fruit of the spirit, “…love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance…(Galatians 5:22-23).  You may have just sped through that list.  Read it again slowly and ask yourself how you rate.

I often hear from widows who have been abandoned by their churches or have become ill or infirm and cannot make it to church.  Since they no longer can afford to bring an offering they are sometimes quietly written off the books of churches.  God knew a widow did not have much money to bring which is why he honored the widow who gave two mites (Mark 12:41-44).  We have become backward when we support the wealthy who support our salaries and have abandoned the widows who have given all and need our help (1 Timothy 5:9-10).  Just like scripture says there are schools to train prophets so they will not prophesy falsely, there are rules for widows.  God’s house must be in order. 

I remember a story where a king ordered his guard to search the woods and alleyways for a specific widow.  She had done him a good turn and he wanted to repay her.  In the search they discovered several destitute widows but not the one he sought.  His captain apologized for failing him in his search but the king responded that while he wanted to minister to one specific widow, God wanted to help them all.  He made sure they all had sufficient food to eat and a place to live.  When was the last time you gave widows or orphans a second thought? 

If a child does not have a father or mother then we in the church should offer that gift.  One reason homosexuality fails children in the home is that they need both father and mother to become well rounded.  God created us to live in body ministry, each part provides an important gift to the whole.  Two men cannot meet the mothering needs of a child while two women cannot meet the fathering need.  These are separate dynamics.  Every homosexual couple I have ever met has pseudo male and female role keepers in it.  There is always a masculine and a feminine partner.  Unfortunately these false male and female roll keepers cannot fill the place of a true male and a true female. 

The arguments of these couples is that there are many single parent households in the world and they are providing two parents.  There IS more security in a two parent homosexual home than there is in a single parent home but if you compare a loving two homosexual home to a loving two heterosexual home there is a vast gulf of difference.  Being comfortable in your own skin is a decision.  Our brains are capable of being trained to be at peace in almost any state.  What you feed grows.  If I feed homosexual tendencies they will grow.  If I feed heterosexual tendencies then they will grow.  If I feed anger and rage it will grow but if I feed, “Blessed are the peacemakers,” then that will grow.

God commands, I choose to obey or not.  God directs and I choose to follow or not.  One day, EVERY knee shall bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.  Every Muslim, Christian, Hindu, Shinto and non-believer of every sort will confess this.  When they confess this they will be confessing that He is Lord of God’s Word and all that John chapter one says about Him.  By that time however …it will be too late.  The die will be cast and it will be the final bow of the vanquished.  Now, as God says, is the acceptable time (2 Corinthians 6:2).  Now is the day of salvation.  After we leave this body it will be too late.  Choose ye this day whom ye shall serve (Joshua 24:15).

18 “Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.

As I said before, God is in the business of redemption.  If we repent and humble ourselves to His Word then He will honor us.  I have heard many in the church tell me that certain scriptures are not for us today.  Jesus said, “Heaven and earth shall pass away but My Words shall not pass away (Matthew 24:35, Mark 13:31, Luke 21:33).”  His Words are primarily those found in what we call the Old Testament. 

A few of them have been curtailed because we are no longer under the law.  Not eating pork is under the law.  Tithing is not.  Sacrificing animals is under the law.  Prophecy is not.  I have had Christians tell me that their lack of tithing could not be the reason for not receiving God’s blessings.  They say that tithing is under the law.  Really?  Has God said we no longer must trust Him with our finances?  We no longer need to give?  Abraham paid tithes and HE was not under the law which came from Moses.  Forgetting the scriptural arguments in favor of tithing, experience alone will make it apparent that tithing is still honored today.  I find it curious that the laws many want to ignore are the ones that touch on money.  And here I thought Luke 6:38 was a New Testament scripture.  Could it be a flesh problem called greed? 

Grateful Fool?

For Those of us Who Feel Unworthy

1 Corinthians 1:17 For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect.

This letter began, “I Paul, invited to be an Apostle, by the foreknowledge of God…”  He did not consider himself to be worthy.  If you doubt that, simply read Romans 7:7-24 or 2 Corinthians 12:7-9.  Paul always felt inadequate for the task he was assigned.  His life journey took him from a prideful Pharisee, to nearly despairing of ever being worthy, to final acceptance of his total unsuitability for the position…BUT FOR THE GRACE OF GOD.  There are two types of Christians who cause me to shake my head.  One is always frustrated by the flaws and mistakes of others and gives no allowance of their human weakness and is apparently unaware of his own.  The other simply says, “Nobody can live this life so they shouldn’t even try.  God will accept us as we are because we can’t succeed anyway.” 

Both of these attitudes are wrong.  First of all, it is not our responsibility to judge others in their walk with God.  True, we should be teachers and encouragers along life’s road.  Scripture says, “reprove, rebuke and exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine (2 Timothy 4:2).  It also says that we ought to be workmen who need not be ashamed, RIGHTLY DIVIDING the Word of Truth (2 Timothy 2:15).  We are not worthy but we still ought to help one another make it and live as perfectly by His Word as we can and not as we might want.

People who allegorize and rationalize scripture miss one very important part of it.  God wants to be involved in our lives. He wants to make Himself known and real.  The fact that we so rarely see that sort of thing in our lives is due to our attitude and level of surrender and not to His willingness.  The cross of Christ should have GREAT effect.  It should deliver and move us powerfully.  Drug addicts should be set free and those destroyed by the ravages of a life of sin should be raised up.  In other words; the Gospel of Jesus Christ is actually supposed to work without fancy words and fair speeches (Romans 16:18).

1 Corinthians 1:18 For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.

If you don’t think that most unsaved people think we’re fools or insane, just read the responses they put in the comment sections of most articles on Christian lifestyle.  We Christians appear to come off somewhere between Jack the Ripper and Isis.  They certainly lump us together with the latter and say that all religions are like that.  The actual doctrine of our faith does not matter a bit to their ‘version’ of the truth. 

As I said in the section above, the word of God should flow with the miracle working power of God.  If it does not then our walk with God needs some serious growth.  The Word is pretty specific about what we ought to be able to accomplish in Christ.  “And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover (Mark 16:16-18).”  I don’t say that taking up serpents or drinking poison is something we are to do as an act of faith, but if it happens we are bitten or accidentally drink such things, we should survive.”

1 Corinthians 1:19 For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.

People who call us deluded fools are not stupid or unthinking.  If anything they are thinking so much that they are unable to think further than the world around us and into the world that actually created that world.  I suppose they would tell you that they believe in what they can see and not a fairy tale.  The trouble with this literal “what you see is what you get” attitude is that this world which we live in is more empty space than solid reality.  The very atoms that make up your being are mostly empty space.  The only truly ‘real’ part of our makeup is spirit, which is why Jesus says, “We must worship God in spirit and in truth (John 4:23-24, 14:16-17, 1 John 5:6).” 

The word for truth is aletheia and means the certainty of reality.  We can live and reproduce and create beautiful things and yet the reality of life is beyond what we see and smell and taste and touch.  We are a spirit.  It is the only eternal part of what we are.  It is also why those who become overwhelmed by the difficulties of life and horrors of their treatment by their fellow man do not help themselves by committing suicide.  Death in the service of God leads to life but death in the hopes of escaping judgment leads only to eternal torment.  God’s great gift is eternity and it is also His great curse.  In those who live for Him it is a gift.  In those who live for themselves and live only in this mortal body it is a curse because judgment will never end.

One of the greatest problems mankind faces is anger in the face of wounded feelings.  Many Christians are not well trained or sufficiently disciplined.  If they were then they would not attack those living in sin but would rather comfort them with the words of truth and love and deliverance.  Because we often react in fear – perhaps thinking we ought to protect our God – we hurl insults toward sinners rather than words of love and grace.  Scripture says that grace and truth came from Jesus (John 1:16).  Because we fail to give grace (unmerited favor) to those in sin, they are filled with anger.  This anger drives them into a desire to attack us intellectually. 

These are not stupid people.  They are thinking and reasoning and often have a wisdom of natural things that exceeds our own.  You cannot win them by declaring the anger of God when they cannot even see God.  You must win them with love and grace and truth.  Those attributes will ultimately bring the real changing force of God…power.  The power of God ought to reside in us and flow through us.  If it does not then the fault does not rest in God or the sinners, but in us.

1 Corinthians 1:20 AMP Where is the wise man and the philosopher? Where is the scribe and the scholar? Where is the investigator, the logician and the debater of this present time and age? Has not God shown up the nonsense and the folly of this world’s wisdom?

One of the greatest frustrations of the modern scientists is the discovery of the Big Bang creation of the universe.  Far from being an attack against Christianity it makes you see even more the wonder of God.  Chuck Missler said in one of his teachings, “First there was NOTHING and then it exploded.”  As God says in verse 20, “Where is your wisdom wise man?  How is it that your knowledge ends so quickly scholar?  Can you answer the same questions I asked of Job?  Well??

Psalm 19 says, “1 THE HEAVENS declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows and proclaims His handiwork. 2 Day after day pours forth speech, and night after night shows forth knowledge. 3 There is no speech nor spoken word from the stars; their voice is not heard. 4 Yet their voice by evidence goes out through all the earth, their sayings to the end of the world. Of the heavens has God made a tent for the sun…”  God declares that the universe displays his handiwork and without words speaks powerful volumes of the greatness of God. 

The end of verse 4 says, “God has made the heavens a tent for our sun.”  We try to say that those who wrote scripture were ignorant savages with no knowledge of the universe around them but in reality they knew more in many areas than a modern scientist.  The writers knew the world was round like a ball.  Later people who ignored scripture thought it to be flat.  We have spent thousands of years relearning knowledge contained in the writings of scripture.  No religion on earth has more scientific truth than the Bible.  In verse 20, God is throwing down the gauntlet and saying, “If you think you’re so smart…prove it to me!”  Christians and Jews should never fear for the honor of God’s word.  He will always perform it (Jeremiah 1:12).

1 Corinthians 1:21 For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.

Consider a being greater in size and might than the entire known or unknown universe.  He observes the antics of a small backward planet in a corner of a single galaxy that HE created and hears their arrogant statement that “there is no God!”  Since their small, nearsighted myopic vision has so amused Him He has decided to win souls and save them by the simple expedient of having someone tell a story of love.  What a God.  No arrogance.  Just calm assurance of who He is.

It’s not the people who mock God that bother me since God is not mocked (Galatians 6:7).  He made us eternal beings and promised us glory and wonders if we serve Him and live for Him.  What bothers me is those who deliberately lie for the purpose of proving a theory that they KNOW is unprovable, that they hold onto evolution as the holy grail of their religion.  They accuse us of this all the time and while much of what we believe must be understood by faith, most of it is provably scientifically accurate.  This is more than can be proved in many of Science’s claims.

For this reason, God has not chosen to argue or greatly dispute with the world, but to offer in as simple a manner as possible His grace and love.  Come who will, God is offering His heart and strength to any who will trust, believe and obey.  It’s not our responsibility as Christians to defend God’s Word.  It is our responsibility to live it, model it and tell it to the world.  It is God’s business to empower it and bring it to pass.  What a marvelous division of labor.

1 Corinthians 1:22 For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom: 23 But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling block, and unto the Greeks foolishness; 24 But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God.

The requested questions in verse 22 are, “Lord, show us a miracle and we will believe,” or “Lord, explain your rationale for what you have done and why and we will believe.”  His answer is, “Thus saith the Lord.”  His examples were the life, death and resurrection of Jesus as seen by hundreds of witnesses.  The reaction of others is, “That was then, show me now,” and “Why blood, why propitiation, why sanctification?  Just tell me how everything works.”

Instead of that answer He replies, “It works because I sent my Word and Spirit and they make it work (Psalm 107:20).  It works because I sent my love and that is why it works (John 5:38-39).  It works because I am the Lord thy God and that is why it works.  It works because it cannot help but work.  My Word Works. 

1 Corinthians 1:25 Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

I’ve spent a day thinking about this verse.  The foolishness of God is wiser than men…period.  The weakness of God is stronger than men…period.  The word for foolishness is “moros” from which we get moron, idiot, stupid.  I have a problem with the idea that God should have a moment of stupidity.  God is not smart, or dumb, or brilliant, or clever.  GOD IS.  We consider a scientist to be brilliant if he is able to figure out how atoms work or how to make a GPS understand where we are on the earth, but God knows where every atom is and how it interacts with every other atom in the universe.  Is He smarter or does He simply know everything? 

He has no age because He is outside of time.  His brilliance is absolute because there is no knowledge that did not come from Him.  Did He calculate the gravitational field of each planet and star or is it just in Him to know.  Does God have a foolish side.  Perhaps that is why there are platypuses, giraffes and mankind.  God just had a moment of whimsy.  The point is that God is greater than any thought we ever might have.  We cannot outgrow Him or become more advanced or smarter than Him.  Scripture says that in the end time the kings of the earth will make war on God (Revelation 19:19-20).  Is it possible that they will believe they have found a way to destroy Him or are they just seeking Israel’s destruction? 

My point is, God is waiting on them to do their worst.  He is already there, at the time, date and place of this great battle.  HE has already fought it in OUR future.  There is no thought you can have that He does not already know.  There is no idea you can come up with but that it came from Him.  There is no hope without Him and no future if He does not allow it.  This is the great God we serve and we do not need to protect Him from any spirit or natural person.  He knows altogether.

1 Corinthians 1:26 For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called:

First God says that he uses the foolish things of the world and the weak things of the world to confound the wise and then in verse 26 it says that the CALLED (that would be us saved people) are those who are foolish and not noble.  God didn’t call us because we were so noble or righteous or strong.  God called us because we were weak but willing, foolish but faithful.  We should never think more highly of ourselves than we ought to.  We are not the blue bloods of aristocracy but the blue collar workers of the spiritual universe.  God uses us and loves us because we are absolutely without merit apart from His desire to bestow His love and grace upon us.  We call a dog with several different breeds in it a mutt.  We are the mutts of the world, perhaps of the universe.  We can be loveable or vicious.  The choice is ours and the answer is His.

1 Corinthians 1:27 But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;

We often forget that God is so HOLY and POWERFUL that in our absolute best we are filthy prideful weaklings.  From the most powerful king or potentate to the poorest slave on the planet, none are worthy of God and His love.  For this reason God has chosen to reach those kings and potentates with a word from someone God has emptied of all their worldly value and filled them with His power and ability.  When the two witnesses come and men try many times to kill them they will walk unopposed until the moment that GOD has chosen to allow their death.  The whole earth will rejoice at their temporary destruction (Revelation 11:3-12).  These two witnesses are only ordinary souls but in the kingdom of God they are extraordinary, unstoppable and miraculous.

1 Corinthians 1:28 And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: 29 That no flesh should glory in his presence.

We in Christ are rarely the most highly taught or educated.  We study scripture and believe it’s words.  No man or woman can know or fully understand all of God’s Word.  The greatest scholars have barely scratched the surface of its wonder.  God does not choose to keep us ignorant though.  Just the opposite.  He tells us to study to show ourselves as a workman, proved by action and power to serve the kingdom of God.  It is not so much as a lack of desire to fully know God’s Word as it is a lack of ability.  His Word is perfect, flawless and alive.  His Word is light and life and the names of all who die in Christ are written therein.  If you can fully know and understand God then you can fully know and understand His Word. 

No, God does not want us ignorant (Romans 1:13, 1 Corinthians 12:1, 1 Thessalonians 4:13), but He is fully aware that we are unable to live by His Word without mistake.  When we stumble along at our very best and if all things work together for our good it is because He has made it so (Romans 8:28).  Have you ever seen preachers or Christians patting themselves on the back for their holiness and goodness?  Thankfully I have not seen it very often.  I’ve had people tell me, “You’re humble,” as if it is a curse for a Christian minister to be humble.  Perhaps I should wave my title around and see if anyone will fall prostrate on the ground before me.  Probably not the best idea because I can mess up with the best of them.

1 Corinthians 1:30 But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption: 31 That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.

I have more than a few times received a check from someone totally unexpected at the exact moment when I really needed a financial blessing.  I very rarely ask anyone for financial help.  It’s not that there aren’t those who would be willing to help me or bless me but because if I look to others for that help then where will God come in.  When the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah were attacked and defeated, and with them Lot, Abraham went to their defense (Genesis 14).  With three hundred eighteen warriors of his own house he defeated the kings that had defeated the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah.  What a marvelous display of faith.

When he came back with all the wealth of those two cities, the priest king of Salem (JeruSALEM) Melchizedek, came out with bread and wine and Abraham paid tithes to him.  After this, the king of Sodom came to Abraham and said, “Give us the living people you have rescued and keep all the wealth of Sodom for yourself.”  Abraham’s statement reminds me that my wealth or lack of it comes from God and not man.  He told the king of Sodom, “I won’t even take so much as a single thread of a single shoelace.  I will not have anyone say that a man made Abraham rich, but God only (Genesis 14:23).  He allowed his men who fought for him to receive their portion, but would not touch it himself.

GOD IS our righteousness and sanctification and wisdom and redemption.  Without Him I am a blind beggar without future or hope.  Christ’s blood gives me redemption and righteousness before God.  His Word sanctifies me and gives me wisdom.  With these things in my life, I can do all things.  As is often sung in the old gospel song, “Without Him, I can do nothing.  Without Him, I would fail.  Without Him, I would be drifting; like a ship…without…a sail.”  People who always say, “I need,” or “give me” will never discover the joy of God truly becoming their portion.  Do you need money?  God is your portion.  Do you need hope?  God is your portion.  Do you need anything at all?  God is your portion.  When Moses asked God, “Who shall I say sent me?”  God said, “I AM.”  I AM your portion.  If you want to brag or strut or talk big, brag about God.  Tell everyone, “My God is bigger than your God.  My God is better than your God.  My God is badder than your God!  My God can beat your God up!”  Strut that!

1 Corinthians 2:1 And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God. 2 For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified.

I could have kept these two verses separate but I decided at the last moment to put them together.  What is it that makes a religion?  People worship animals or planets or suns or other inanimate things.  They have no life within themselves.  They are props for this life we live and that is all.  Personally, there are three things that really keep me serving God.  The first is a future.  If I died tomorrow and my life just ended then what does it matter how I live this life.  Paul said, “If there is no salvation to be had, no eternal life, then we Christians of all men are the most miserable (1 Corinthians 15:19). 

Who wants to live holy and righteous and always do the right thing even when it hurts?  This is a fallen world.  The greatest fun you can do in these bodies is to live as many do, in sin.  It’s not that some wouldn’t choose to live lives of nobility and love even without God, but not many would.  The truth is, only God gives us a true reason for the way we live and that we are willing to give our lives to live this way.  Scripture says in many places that sacrificing ones self  for the common good is not a natural inclination, but a spiritual one.  The echo of Christ’s sacrifice for us touches the whole earth and is birthed in many hearts, not just the born again.  Satan’s heart is to kill steal and destroy (John 10:10).  God on the other hand so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son so nobody had to perish. 

The second thing that keeps me serving God is prophecy.  God’s word contains thousands of prophecies.  Most have come true and we are not talking about some misjudged action that was not adequately and correctly interpreted.  We are talking about things that could not have come to pass with even a billion to one odds but coming to pass with advance notice.  We’re talking about a God outside of time telling us things that would happen in time but telling us ahead of the time.  This happens with great regularity in scripture and if you listen to His Spirit, in life as well (John 16:13). 

The third thing and the main reason that I came to know the Lord was not for salvation or even for prophecy, though those things have kept me.  The main reason I came to the Lord is that I wanted a better life.  Satan does not promise it.  Man cannot offer it.  We are too greedy, too apt to squabble amongst ourselves and too ready to step on one another to secure our own future.  Those who might have some altruistic attitudes and try to help others often turn bitter and angry when those attitudes are not reciprocated.  None of these things matter to the saints of God (or should not).  We do what we do for Him, not for ourselves.  In return He promises us a great future, either here or in the hereafter.  That was the main reason I came to God, for a life of faith and wonder.

1 Corinthians 2:3 And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling.

Knowing these things, that God desires to live in us and make us strong, powerful, anointed and life changing through our words to others, we are often terrified of failing HIM.  That we fail ourselves is a often daily occurrence.  That we might fail Him is no less frequent an occurrence.  Paul knew the Hebrew scriptures backwards and forwards.  He had it down. Me, like Peter I have a degree in the university of life.  I love God.  I study His Word daily.  I pray about it, agonize over it and grieve for the many hours I wasted when I might have been studying.  PAUL KNEW THE SCRIPTURES!  He knew them and still approached his ministry in weakness, fear and much trembling.

The word for weakness is astheneia and means to be feeble (think elderly or sick almost to death).  Fear is phobos and means the terror of a thing and in this case the thing would be failure.  Paul was terrified he might fail God.  Fear is tromos which means the absolute fear that causes you to shake and tremble.  It is vast dread that you are not good enough.  These are the things that Paul felt in preaching to the church in Corinth.  He absolutely KNEW he was unworthy for the honor and use that God had chosen for his life.  When he was with them they did not see a cocky and arrogant man in complete control.  Paul had one thing going for him though.  He preached the truth and it NEVER failed.

1 Corinthians 2:4 And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: 5 That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.

I’ve heard preachers preach musically, rhythmically, passionately and with rhyming words.  Paul said he did not speak that way.  This thing he knew; that when he spoke the words and turned them loose on his audience…that audience would never be the same.  Those words were living and powerful and sharper than any two edged Roman sword. 

Our faith cannot stand in the wisdom of men. 

The wisdom of men has men worshipping ancestors, the wisdom of men has you worship beasts and planets.  The wisdom of men will even have you worship NOTHING AT ALL. 

Worship God in the power of His Word and in that alone.  Do not follow fables or imaginative lies.  Follow the truth and the truth will make you free.