Month: January 2020

165. Priests and Ministers

Isaiah 61:6 But ye shall be named the Priests of the Lord: men shall call you the Ministers of our God: ye shall eat the riches of the Gentiles, and in their glory shall ye boast yourselves.

God gave us a job: bring priests of the Lord and ministers of God. This is a charge and a responsibility, and it is also a promise. The privilege of serving as priests and ministers is a glorious promise. We “get to,” we don’t “have to.” When the Lord saves us and makes us His own, He calls us to be priests. When He calls us He gives us the desire and ability to complete the job we are given to do and the role in which He placed us.

Priests: we are named priests. A priest is anointed to bring the people to God. They make sacrifices and say prayers for the people. In this way they serve God’s people. Jesus was anointed to be the Great High Priest to serve all: He sacrificed Himself once for all; He prays and intercedes for the people regularly. This is the same kind of thing that saved believers are called to do. As priests, we make sacrifices for other people: we give up what we have and what we want to do in order to give something or do something for other people. We “sacrifice” time, money, self-interest, work, and effort to make the lives of others better. We also pray for others, for their salvation, for wellbeing, for health and blessing. Thereby, we make the lives of others better. This promise is a wonderful blessing for us. The blesser and the server always receive more in return than they ever give away. That is the promise.

Ministers: we are called to be ministers. “Minister” is an old English word for servant, and this is what we are: servants of others. Every believer joyfully and extravagantly serves other people in his or her life. We do not directly serve God or minister to Him; He does not need our good works, but people do need our service and good works. We serve God by serving others. Any way that we can make the lives of others better, more comfortable, stronger, or easier is a ministry. Serving, or ministering, is the practical outworking of love. Service is not a feeling but an action. Service is love in action, actually doing something for someone else without expecting any return. The payback comes from the Lord, who uses us to serve His people and He brings His reward with Him. To be a minister and serve others is a blessing and a promise, a promise that must be believed.

164. Beauty, Joy, Praise

Isaiah 61:3 To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified.

God promises beauty, joy and praise in place of ashes, mourning, and heaviness. All this beauty, joy and praise comes from the Gospel of Jesus Christ, who died and rose to grant forgiveness and life.

Jesus adorns you and me, His bride, with beauty. He says to each of us: “You are beautiful to me.” He picks us up from the ash heap where life is really down in the dumps, dusts us off, and beautifies us. The beauty is not physical and outward, but it is the inner beauty of love and purity, of grace and mercy. 1 Peter 3:4: “Let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God’s sight is very precious.” The soul receives beauty from the Spirit and reflects beauty out into the world around it. The ashes symbolize the misery of a burnt out life, dirty, useless, and good-for-nothing, in other words, a life ruined by sin.

Jesus pours out the oil of joy upon our head. “Thou anointedst my head with oil.” The oil of anointing symbolizes the Holy Spirit, who fills and flows and moves through us. He is the spirit of joy. This kind of inner joy drives out sadness, loss and mourning. We live with emptiness, pain, loss, and stress because of sin. When sin is forgiven joy come in and replaces the mourning.

Jesus adorns you with a garment of praise. His love fills you with so much joy the only proper response to the Gospel is praise and thanksgiving. When we exercise praise and utter thanks there is no room for a spirit of heaviness. The spirit naturally lifts when the heaviness disappears. Praise lifts the spirit. We feel better when we praise God for His goodness and mercy. When we praise the Lord our focus is more upon Jesus and less upon us, and that always feels good.

163. Comfort for Mourning

Isaiah 61:2 To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn.

The Son of God was anointed with the Spirit of the lord to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord: this is the Jubilee year (50th year) in which all debts are forgiven and everyone gets a fresh start. This happened spiritually when Jesus came to earth for the forgiveness of all people. He also came to proclaim the day of vengeance: this is the just judgment of all Sin and Evil and Satan at the cross and the victory of life for all in the Resurrection. But the promise is in the third clause: to comfort all that mourn. This part of the prophecy is a promise for all believers: we who mourn shall be comforted.

This is the promise as Jesus proclaimed it in the Sermon on the Mount: “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.” The promise is for all who mourn, and we are all mourners. No one goes through life without mourning, sadness, and weeping. Death has separated loved ones, so we mourn. Sin and Satan has caused suffering and loss of all kinds, so we mourn. Loss and sadness is a part of the human condition, so we mourn. Jesus has good news for all who mourn: you will be comforted.

The death and resurrection of Jesus Christ takes away the sin that causes suffering, destroys the works of the devil, and gives victory and life over death forever. This is comfort. This kind of eternal comfort, hope and life is available for all, Because of Christ God has restored life in place of death and separation; He has forgiven sin in place of just judgment on all our sins; He has released us from the claims of Satan who tries to steal our joy, destroy our peace, and kill all hope. This is great comfort and good news. Take comfort in Christ for anything that causes discomfort.

162. Opening of Prison

Isaiah 61:1d The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me…to proclaim…the opening of the prison to them that are bound.

The promise of opening the prison is similar to the previous clause that promises liberty to the captives. The picture is just a little different. Being in prison is the apex of losing freedom. Being imprisoned is a great diminishment of life. It is certainly not a full life. Movement is limited, of course, but opportunities are limited. The prisoner is not free to act on all the decisions he might make. The freedom of having opportunities and options to choose from is a basic desire of all people. It is for this reason that greed takes over, and for this reason we want more money than we presently have. Getting out of prison is a large dream, and staying out of prison is a huge motivation. We don’t like sickness and being handicapped because it limits our opportunities and abilities to do what we like. This limitation of choice and ability to do what we want is an endemic part of the human condition. 

In short, all of us are in a prison of some kind, some kind of handicap or limitation to doing what we want, to choose. If we can’t do everything we are imprisoned and life is diminished to some degree. We can’t begin to list all the psychological prisons in which we lock ourselves up. Of course, it is because of the choices we make that we put ourselves in various prisons. My own sins and selfishness has imprisoned me in different ways. Every prisoner yearns to get out, to be free.

In the midst of this condition, God sent Jesus to give us this promise: He opens the prison of those who are bound. This is the human yearning: freedom. Adam and Eve were deceived into thinking they were not free to do what they wanted. And God seems like a tyrant and cruel taskmaster to us as well, preventing us from making our own choices about good and evil, and having to trust God for everything good. I want to do the things that I think are good for me, according to my selfish interest. With Adam I also place myself under a curse and lock myself in a prison. This prison is what Jesus opens up. By faith in Christ I can do what I want. But what I want changes. Conversion to Christ suddenly, and then gradually, changes my desires. 

When sins are forgiven and eternal life is granted prison is opened. We put our souls in prison every day, and Jesus opens the prison every day.

161.  Liberty to Captives

Isaiah 61:1c The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me…to proclaim liberty to the captives.

The Lord God anointed the Son with the Spirit so that He would proclaim liberty to the captives. The promise is: “You are free!” But that liberty must be proclaimed and then believed by the captives. The promise is true and the proclamation is genuine, but to be effective it must be believed, received, and acted upon. Repentance and faith activate the promise, and the Holy Spirit works both in us through the Gospel proclamation.

To make it real we must believe two truths: 1) I am a captive; 2) Jesus sets me free. Human beings do not want to admit that they are captive, that they are enslaved to sin and kidnapped by the devil. Jesus told the Jews that if they believed in Him they would be set free. But they resisted that message, claiming that they have never been slaves to anyone. We, too, cannot enjoy the freedom for which the truth sets us free until we confess that we are captive to Sin. We cannot stop sinning and we don’t even want to: we are not free to stop the sin and obey the Law. Like the Jews, we usually don’t even see the shackles that chain us down. Every person wants freedom, and every person thinks they are free, except for human laws, human governments, and actual physical slavery. The chains of Sin and Satan are spiritual and invisible, but they are stronger than any physical chains. The Holy Spirit uses the Word of God to convict us of this awful truth: “You are captive.”

The second truth that must be believed along with the first is: “I am free, because Jesus sets me free.” After I admit I am a captive and confess that I cannot free myself, I turn to Jesus and the Good News He proclaims: You are free, you are free indeed. Your sins are forgiven and taken away. The chains have been broken; you are free from enslavement to Sin, from kidnapping by the Devil, and from the tyranny of Death. Your liberty has finally come; you are rescued and delivered. We didn’t see the invisible chains that kept us bound, and we don’t see the broken chains that set us free, but it is true. Jesus earns the liberty and proclaims the truth. The very proclamation of liberty has in it the very power to make it happen.

160. Bind Up Brokenhearted

Isaiah 61:1b The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because the Lord…has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted.

The Lord anointed the Son, Jesus Christ, and sent him to bind up the brokenhearted. God kept His promise: Jesus came on a mission to do just that. Jesus promises to fix every heart that has been broken. And all hearts have been broken. Every person born of Adam is a sinner banished from Paradise. Sin has broken the dreams of all people. Death has dashed the hopes of everyone who lost Paradise. Satan steals the joy of life from everyone who expected life to be different than it turned out to be. In other words, every person’s heart has been broken, and, worse, everyone has only himself to blame.

The hopes and dreams and ideals of all people have been broken. Disappointment is the common experience of the human condition. Repentance admits: “I made too many mistakes; I screwed up; my life is messed up and its it my own fault.” Faith confesses: “Jesus came to fix it; He is the One who restored the failed hopes and dreams and made them real.” He binds up the brokenhearted. Almost weekly we humans experience disappointment, frustration and brokenness. Hopes are dashed; Jesus gives us hope that doesn’t let us down. Joy is crushed; Jesus restores the joy and gives cause for daily and eternal rejoicing. Peace is stolen; Jesus finds the stealer and brings peace back again. Yes, I broke my heart; Jesus binds it up.

It is hard to admit that everything that is bad and wrong in my life is my own fault because of my own sin. This difficulty makes it hard to believe that Jesus, the Anointed One, came to me to put everything good and right again. This happens every time I hear the Gospel. I am dead, and now I am alive. I am lost, but now am found. I am the sinner, but now I am forgiven. I am condemned to eternal death, but now I am saved for eternal life. I am broken, but now I am bound up.

Take hold of this wonderful promise: Jesus fixes what I broke. He writes straight on my crooked lines. He tidies up the mess I made. He gives the life I killed. He restores the soul that was was crushed. He gives hope in place of despair. He fills the saddened heart with joy. He makes peace in the place of turmoil. He calms and stills the threatening storms of life. He makes a smile in place of tears. He finds what was lost. All of these are promises kept by the Anointed Savior sent to me by the Lord.

159.  Preach Good News to the Meek

Isaiah 61:1a The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek.

Jesus of Nazareth quotes this prophecy from Isaiah and applies it to himself. He claims that the Lord has anointed him as the Christ to preach good news to the meek. The promise is true for us: we hear the good tidings of great joy, which is for all people. The “meek” includes all people. Meek does not mean milk toast weakness, or a turn-the-other-cheek kind of guy, or a let-the-bullies-beat-up-on-you person. Meek means “open to teaching,” “willing to learn,” accepting help, needing and trusting someone else, a humble attitude, a spirit that knows “I don’t know it all.” It does mean soft in the sense of willing to be impressed with the imprint of the life of God on my soul; not hard like a rock or the seed on the pathway and rocky ground.

Therefore, Jesus says, “Blessed are the meek.” The meek includes everybody except those who in their deceived pride don’t want or need the help of God. Pride turns away the love of God and hardens the heart against forgiveness and life. For this reason repentance, contrition and humility are necessary. The hammer of the Law tenderizes the heart to make it soft enough (like plowed ground) to receive the Good News. Meekness does not make God love and forgive you; meekness merely is willing to receive the love and forgiveness that the Lord offers to all people. The Gospel is preached to the meek = the seed falls on good soil = hear the word and hold it fast in an honest and good heart.

To receive the promise of Good News of great joy from the Anointed One simply be meek, that is, humble and soft enough to receive the implanted word in an honest and good heart. Allow the Spirit to use the Law to break up the fallow ground and receive the seed of good tidings. “I am meek, but He is kind.”

158. The Small will be Strong

Isaiah 60:22 A little one shall become a thousand, and a small one a strong nation: I the Lord will hasten it in his time.

There are many promises in the Bible about the humble, weak, small, poor, and lowly becoming big, strong, rich, and lifted up. This is a major Biblical theme called by a name: “The Great Reversal.” Jesus humbled himself, became humble and poor, lowered himself to the lowest depth, and then was exalted, lifted up, given glory above all human and non-human beings.

The same thing that happened to Jesus happens to us who believe in him: “When I am weak then He is strong.” “I am weak but He is strong.” “His strength is made perfect in weakness.” “God resists the proud, but give grace to the humble,” In the Beatitudes Jesus blesses the poor, the mourners, the meek, the hungry and thirsty, and the persecuted. We by ourselves alone are weak, meek, poor, small and lowly. This is what God says, and this is what He wants us to think of ourselves: weak, small, sinful, and in great need. Then, when we repent and believe, Jesus becomes for a thousand fighting warriors overcoming our enemies daily. When we recognize our smallness in the face of Sin, Death, and the Devil we turn to Jesus and we become a strong nation.

We ourselves alone do not become bigger and stronger, but we are so identified with Christ, who is big and strong, that it looks like we are doing mighty things. In Christ we are big. We are bigger than Death, for we have God’s life. We are better than Sin, for the Spirit in us is Holy. We defeat Satan with the Truth of God’s Word. The Gospel is the Power of God.

Interestingly, the Lord says He will hurry it up in His time. This is an oxymoron: hurry up and wait. He will do it quickly, but it is in his time, which may seem slow to us. We trust His promise and we believe His timing is perfect. When you put yourself in God’s hands you are in Big Hands. We can entrust ourselves to the bigness and goodness of God.

157. Righteous and Heirs

Isaiah 60:21 Thy people also shall be all righteous: they shall inherit the land for ever, the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, that I may be glorified.

The people of God, the Church, the believers in Jesus Christ, will all be righteous. Jesus earned the righteousness of God for us and gave His righteousness to all. Those who believe in Christ have the righteousness of God as their possession for all time and eternity. The promise is personal: “You are righteous!”

All those in the kingdom of God are righteous, and, of course, this is the way it must be. Only perfect and complete righteousness can be allowed in God’s eternal presence. Everyone in the kingdom is, and must be, righteous. And this is the promise. All are. Certainly our righteousness is an alien righteousness. It doesn’t come from us nor is it ever possible to establish our own. Romans 10:2-3: “For being ignorant of the righteousness that comes from God, and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness. For Christ is the end of the law for everyone who believes.”

As a holy people, a righteous church, all the citizens of the kingdom are children of God: each one shall inherit the land forever. The “land” is the kingdom of God and all that God is and all that God gives. The “land” was first promised to Abraham and his descendants, who are children of Abraham by faith in Christ. Abraham believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness. And the believer’s faith is counted as righteousness. We have the land as an inheritance imperishable in the heavens.The Promised Land, the Paradise of God, is ours forever, and we shall inherit it upon death. This Land is also ours now, today, before we die, because Jesus died to give it to us. It is within us (“The kingdom of God is within you.”) and it is entered by faith every time we hear the Gospel. Then at the End, after we die and rise again, all the sin and evil of the world and our flesh will be forever gone and the only thing left is the kingdom of God and the righteousness of God that is in us, though presently unseen. Revelation 11:15: “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever.” Then God will be glorified and He will be all in all.

156. Mourning Ended

Isaiah 60:20 Thy sun shall no more go down; neither shall thy moon withdraw itself for the Lord shall be thine everlasting light, and the days of thy mourning shall be ended.

With the promise of the Lord being for us the everlasting light and no longer the sun or moon going down, there is the promise that the days of your mourning will be ended. All mourning and sadness will end for sure when the Lord returns at the end of the age and we are ushered into the eternal state of the new heavens and new earth. 

We mourn because of sin and death. Death and separation is a result of sin. Sin is the cause of all sadness and misery. But the Lamb of God takes away the sin of the world. Our sin is gone, and therefore by faith in Christ and continual turning to Jesus our mourning is ended. Our mourning is caused by sin and guilt and loss of God and loss of life. But Jesus has come to take away the sin and bring forgiveness, mercy and life. Mourning has ended.

But we still live with sin, and mourning and sadness goes on and on. In the midst of mourning the Lord brings peace and joy, comfort and hope. Returning to the Lord in repentance and faith replaces mourning with comfort and joy. “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.” So says Jesus. This is Good News for the mourners (all of us). Comfort comes through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ and the working of faith by the Holy Spirit. When we receive Jesus by faith mourning is ended, comfort has come.

Of course, sin remains and mourning goes on side by side with peace, joy, comfort and life. Which will we listen to? Which will we believe? The mourning of sin and death seek to attract our attention and distract us from the Good News; but the Gospel is stronger if it gets a hearing in the heart. With the Word and Promise of the Lord we pay attention to the Gospel and ignore the clamor of the devil, the world and our own flesh. Light pushes back the darkness. Truth overcomes the lies every time. The truth: Mourning has ended.