Month: September 2018

FOREWORD: Isaiah 13

Foreword to Isaiah 13
The prophet envisions in the future the inevitable destruction of Judah and Jerusalem under the Chaldean armies of Babylonia and the citizens taken away captive into Babylon for seventy years. Then after the heathen Chaldees would accomplish God’s purpose against idolatrous Judah God would in turn dispense with the Babylonian empire by sending the might of Cyrus the Great (the Persian) with the Medes to capture Babylon and break its power. Isaiah also glimpses the final destruction of the city itself under ensuing Greek emperor, Alexander the Great. Though Cyrus would take Babylon without a fight the city remained habitable until Alexander routed and destroyed its buildings. Today it remains an uninhabited heap of rubble fifty miles away from Baghdad for all to see the fulfilment of God’s prophecies and promises.
Isaiah 13
Persia to capture Babylon and Greece to finally destroy it.
1 The burden of Babylon, which Isaiah the son of Amoz did see.
2 Lift ye up a banner upon the high mountain, exalt the voice unto them, shake the hand, that they may go into the gates of the nobles.
3 I have commanded my sanctified ones, I have also called my mighty ones for mine anger, even them that rejoice in my highness.
4 The noise of a multitude in the mountains, like as of a great people; a tumultuous noise of the kingdoms of nations gathered together: the Lord of hosts mustereth the host of the battle.
5 They come from a far country, from the end of heaven, even the Lord, and the weapons of his indignation, to destroy the whole land.
6 Howl ye; for the day of the Lord is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty.
7 Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every man’s heart shall melt:
8 And they shall be afraid: pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them; they shall be in pain as a woman that travaileth: they shall be amazed one at another; their faces shall be as flames.

The Vision of Jacob’s Trouble and the apocalyptic judgment in the end days.
9 Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it.
10 For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine.
11 And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible.
12 I will make a man more precious than fine gold; even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir.
13 Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the earth shall remove out of her place, in the wrath of the Lord of hosts, and in the day of his fierce anger.

A separate glimpse of Babylon’s destruction by the Greek empire of Alexander.
14 And it shall be as the chased roe, and as a sheep that no man taketh up: they shall every man turn to his own people, and flee every one into his own land.
15 Every one that is found shall be thrust through; and every one that is joined unto them shall fall by the sword.
16 Their children also shall be dashed to pieces before their eyes; their houses shall be spoiled, and their wives ravished.
17 Behold, I will stir up the Medes against them, which shall not regard silver; and as for gold, they shall not delight in it.
18 Their bows also shall dash the young men to pieces; and they shall have no pity on the fruit of the womb; their eyes shall not spare children.
19 And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees’ excellency, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.
20 It shall never be inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation: neither shall the Arabian pitch tent there; neither shall the shepherds make their fold there.
21 But wild beasts of the desert shall lie there; and their houses shall be full of doleful creatures; and owls shall dwell there, and satyrs shall dance there.
22 And the wild beasts of the islands shall cry in their desolate houses, and dragons in their pleasant palaces: and her time is near to come, and her days shall not be prolonged.

FOREWORD: Isaiah 13

FOREWORD: ISAIAH 12

FOREWORD: ISAIAH 12.
Isaiah’s joyous psalm envisioning David’s kingdom renewed.
Despite he dire wickedness of the kingdom of Judah, Isaiah is jubilant that:
1. by grace he thirsted for the water of eternal life,
2. he was drawn by the Father and came to the Immanuel the Saviour and for that which money could not buy and drank of the new wine of the Spirit and the priceless milk of the Word, which he now considered more necessary than his daily food.
3. Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by thy name, O Lord God of hosts. Jeremiah 15:16
4. Neither have I gone back from the commandment of his lips; I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food. Job 23:12
5. David had known the anguish of opposition and the despondency that Isaiah and Jeremiah suffered. My heart was hot within me, while I was musing the fire burned: then spoke I with my tongue. Psalm 39:3
6. Like David, Isaiah possessed joy unspeakable and full of glory because of the new spirit God had placed within him. And he hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God. (Psalm 40:3)
7. The indwelling Holy Spirit was the difference between Moses followers and the godly pair: Joshua and Caleb. (Numbers 14:24; Numbers 27:18)
8. Even when Isaiah was downcast he remembered Moses, crying: “Where is he that put his holy Spirit within him?” (Isaiah 63:11)
9.
10. His conversion when the Lord opened his heart by grace to repent and believe
11. God’s mercy in first drawing him to come and reason together, then assuring him that though his sins be as scarlet, and be red like crimson they would become as white as wooly snow. (Isa.1:18)
12. Isaiah’s source of joy and peace that passes understanding was his faith in Immanuel, the coming incarnate Son of God, even Melchizedek of old whom Abram met ( not yet embodied in human form as the promised Virgin’s babe. , He had heard the call of God to repent and be converted, that his sins could be blotted out (Acts 3:19)
13. Psalm 51:1Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy loving-kindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.
14. Hebrews 8:12 For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.
15. Hebrews 10:17 And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.
16. I, even I, am he that blotted out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins. (Isaiah 43:25)
17. I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and, as a cloud, thy sins: return unto me; for I have redeemed thee. (Isaiah 44:22)
18. His vision and calling of God to serve Judah
Amid Isaiah’s intermittent disconsolate times of becoming downcast and exasperated with the impenitent unresponsiveness Isaiah rejoices. He joys in his salvation by grace and the holy remnant who cling to Jehovah refusing to worship Baal.
Foreword, heading, sub-headings, and footnotes by John David.
The chapter quoted is from the King James Version (Public Domain)
Isaiah 12
Isaiah’s joyous psalm on his vision of Judaic renewal.
1 And in that day thou shalt say, O Lord, I will praise thee: though thou wast angry with me, thine anger is turned away, and thou comfortedst me.
2 Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid: for the Lord Jehovah is my strength and my song; he also is become my salvation.
3 Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation.
4 And in that day shall ye say, Praise the Lord, call upon his name, declare his doings among the people, make mention that his name is exalted.
5 Sing unto the Lord; for he hath done excellent things: this is known in all the earth.
6 Cry out and shout, thou inhabitant of Zion: for great is the Holy One of Israel in the midst of thee.
FOOTNOTE.
Isaiah 12:1.‘And in that day’ frequently occurs in his writing. The words represent his singular glimpse of a particular time period in future history, ranging from the near to the distant future even down to our present day and beyond.

FOREWORD: ISAIAH 12

DOUBTS ON TODAY’S CHURCH DEBATABLE?

IS THERE ANY TRUTH TO THE INTELLECTUAL’S DOUBT.
1. The church was the invention of Emperor Constantine for his new Roman religion
2. The word CHURCH is not found in the original New Testament but is a Latin word first used in the 2nd century Old Latin manuscript by Romanized believers
3. Eusebius rewrote the Bible for the Emperor in the first two decades of the third century in the Revised Old Latin Version of the 2nd C first Latin New Testament.
4. The use of the Latin ‘ecclesia’ means CHURCH or a religious institution
5. Though seemingly similar to the Greek word ‘ekklesia’, its meaning is vastly different.
6. Ekklesia means ‘summoned out to assemble’ or ‘called out’. The persecuted minority called: by the names of The Way; The Nazarenes; and finally: The Christians, were called out to separate themselves from the religions of Rome, Paganism, Greek mysticism and pantheism, and Judaism. While the early Jewish believers reemained in fellowship with Judaism, its synagogues and temple they had less persecution than experienced by other believers who had paid the price

WHO ARE THE LORD’S WITNESSES?

YE ARE EVEN MY WITNESSES
The saint is compelled to bear testimony of Christ in some small way, or spiritual boredom and drought will set in because the Spirit is grieved.
Each of us ‘brush shoulders’ with scores of lost souls each week unless confined at home because of illness. The saint, no matter how dejected, will carry something in the pocket or handbag with the gift of life: e.g. a small tract, or a pocket Gospel, that can be handed to ‘other sheep’ not yet in the fold of the kingdom, but whom the Father is drawing to His Son.

This does not mean everybody encountered, nor does it mean the witness should nail the recipient with verbal diatribe trying to win his soul.
However, it does mean being ready for a natural positive opportunity (interactional chemistry permitting) when it arises.
Every decent, warm conversation in personal encounter, though only short is the Lord opening the heart to the Word by readying the person to receive it. Seeds must be sown for germination and it needs a sower willing to drop a seed.

If the witness refuses to carry the Word of Life, there is no chance of a seed being deposited. This does not mean confronting every person and forcibly arresting him, as some unwise zealots do. Evidence cannot be measured by response and that must be left to eternity, for often in most cases there will never be another meeting. Ye are my witnesses, and besides I have no other.

Neutral ground of approach is today the best, maybe the only way to witness with 2,800 separate churches soliciting their uniqueness within Christendom. Try to avoid literature advertising their own congregation, but if the identity endorsement has to be embossed make sure it points to the Word of God and not a METHOD to gain grace, or receive the Holy Spirit.

Let HIM do HIS own work without crowding HIM as though salvation of a lost person depends on someone else. Remember that Jesus in John 17 refused to pray for the world and the worldling, only for ‘other sheep’ which the Spirit was preparing. This is not predestination or limited atonement, but giving the Spirit the prerogative to do His own work His own way without meddling humans discrediting His ability to do the work.

Ideally, tracts should be without denominational tag or wording soliciting itself on the back page. Popular humanistic right wing evangelism thinks otherwise as it uses various cunning devices to catch a person in their network. The Christian believer often sees such zealotry and stops witnessing because he wants to disassociate himself from such.

BIBLE REFERENCES. (ex King James Version-Public Domain)
Fear ye not, neither be afraid: have not I told thee from that time, and have declared it? ye are even my witnesses. Is there a God beside me? yea, there is no God; I know not any…But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost.
(Isaiah 44:8; 2 Corinthians 4:3)

WHO ARE THE LORD’S WITNESSES?