Author: Ben Bourland

“For we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus [the leaning of your entire human personality on Him in absolute trust and confidence in His power, wisdom, and goodness] and of the love which you [have and show] for all the saints (God’s consecrated ones), because of the hope [of experiencing what is] laid up (reserved and waiting) for you in heaven. Of this [hope] you heard in the past in the message of the truth of the Gospel,” Colossians 1:4-5 ->me: FAITH, LOVE, and HOPE – These are the things in the Colossian church that Paul thanks God for (from verse 3). These three things are the signs that new life is springing forth. The FAITH spoken here by Paul is not just any religious belief…It is defined as ‘faith in Christ Jesus’. I also find it awesome that the Colossians acts of LOVE are stories that have made it all the way through travels of people from there – they must have been on fire. Here HOPE is not so much referring to the state or activity of hoping as to the thing ‘hoped for’ -> ‘it is the hope stored up for you in heaven’ (1 Peter 1:4 & 2 Timothy 4:8). The ‘hope’ is that which I have already heard about in the word of truth, the gospel. “The Gospel” for Paul, is an announcement, a proclamation, whose importance lies in the truth of its content. It is not, primarily, either an invitation, or a technique for changing people’s lives. It is a command to be obeyed and a power to let loose in the world.

“PAUL, AN apostle (special messenger) of Christ Jesus (the Messiah), by the will of God, and Timothy [our] brother, to the saints (the consecrated people of God) and believing and faithful brethren in Christ who are at Colossae: Grace (spiritual favor and blessing) to you and [heart] peace from God our Father. We continually give thanks to God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah), as we are praying for you,” Colossians 1:1-3 ->me: I think it is interesting how Paul starts out with a blessing delivered in written form – “Grace and peace to you from God our Father”; this not only is indicative of the closeness of Paul’s relationship with the Lord but also the heartfelt love he has for the people of Colossae. I try to imagine Paul and Timothy praying for the churches they send these letters to, according to verse 3 they are ‘continually’ giving thanks for the Colossian’s as they are praying for them. Tonight when I pray for those in my earthly garden, I will thank God for the blessing they bring into my life along with the prayers I raise up for them.

“And they shall go forth and gaze upon the dead bodies of the [rebellious] men who have stepped over against Me; for their worm shall not die, their fire shall not be quenched, and they shall be an abhorrence to all mankind.” Isaiah 66:24 ->me: This is a very interesting point that Isaiah is making. Spiritually, when everyone comes to worship they should make it a point to go out and look at the cemetery outside the temple and gaze upon the fate from which they have been rescued. We should enjoy our Salvation but we should not allow ourselves to forget the day of vengeance. These bodies are dead because the judgement of God is real; those bodies slain by the Lord should be a reminder. The accusation leveled against those in the ground, as the reason they are there is that they ‘rebelled’. They knew the word of the Lord but deliberately and willingly went their own way. The purpose of visiting the cemetery is not to gloat or even pity bit to be repelled and revolted; to see again the wages of sin and the fruit of rebellion. They should then be newly motivated to obedience and love of the word of God. —– Today completes my study of Isaiah. I started this journey on May 24th of last year and what an amazing set of revelations and learnings the Lord has taught me. Onto Colossians!

“And I will set up a [miraculous] sign among them, and from them I will send survivors to the nations—to Tarshish, Pul (Put), and Lud, who draw the bow, to Tubal and Javan, to the isles and coastlands afar off that have not heard of My fame nor seen My glory. And they will declare and proclaim My glory among the nations.” Isaiah 66:19 ->me: The miraculous sign here is the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. The survivors are those who turn and follow the Word of the One True God and have been save from destruction. This verse make it clear that missionaries will go to the ends of the earth to spread God’s glory; to those who have not heard of God’s fame. I am a survivor and that is the group that God is sending – I must participate in reaching the lost and those who have not heard of the fame and glory of the Lord. Today this only reinforces the importance of going out to witness and win those how are lost to the Kingdom of God. I feel that this is the Lord telling me to get into gear about the trip to Baja this fall to build a house for needy in Mexico.

“When you see this, your heart shall rejoice; your bones shall flourish like green and tender grass. And the [powerful] hand of the Lord shall be revealed and known to be with His servants, but His indignation [shown] to be against His enemies.” Isaiah 66:14 ->me: Tonight at Life Group all of us men have felt under attack by the evil one. We believe the Lord is on the cusp of doing something supernatural through us; and satan, seeing what is happening, is doing everything he can to distract us with the signals of this world. We are not going to stand by and be swayed by the enemy; we are not going to stand by in the trenches being gassed by the devil and his minions. We are going to grab our swords (the word), put up our shields (faith), don our breastplates of armor (righteousness), tighten our belts (of truth), secure our helmets (of salvation), and walk forward (with steps of the peace of the gospel) toward the enemy line. When we see God’s comfort our hearts will rejoice and our inner frames strengthened; we will see the powerful hand of God revealed and be acquainted with its effectiveness (seeing its successes). Our Lord’s anger toward the unfair treatment of His saints by His enemies will be made known. CHARGE!!!!!!

“As one whom his mother comforts, so will I comfort you; you shall be comforted in Jerusalem.” Isaiah 66:13 ->me: The preceding 2 verses give a very enduring image of a mother caring for and providing for her child and the comfort, warmth, and safety the child feels because of her love and protection. This will be my life in Zion for eternity after Jesus comes….wait…actually I can tap into this right now. I already live this protection and care if I just embrace it. I need to learn to let go and let God lead EVERY aspect of my life. When I have done this the absolute carefree and peaceful nature of my mind is not found in any earthly vice, fix, or comfort. God has been teaching me that I can live a little bit of the heaven He promises right here on earth if I will only let Him be my all and all.

“Before [Zion] travailed, she gave birth; before her pain came upon her, she was delivered of a male child. Who has heard of such a thing? Who has seen such things? Shall a land be born in one day? Or shall a nation be brought forth in a moment? For as soon as Zion was in labor, she brought forth her children.” Isaiah 66:7-8 ->me: I believe this whole passage (Isaiah 66:7-10) is talking about the sudden addition of the Gentile converts through the death and resurrection of the Messiah to God’s city of Zion. Normally the growth of a nation would take multiple generations of child rearing and maturing through defending it sovereignty and position…but here God is saying He is going to add to that nation without the normal birth pains of a growing nation. The work of Jesus will, in a moment, cause the city of Zion to grow in population quickly ; in some cases in numbers of 3000 at a time (Acts 2). How blessed am I to only have to simply believe in the person and deity of the Lord Jesus Christ and His work to be added to the City of God. How can I not be humble, of a broken and contrite spirit, in fear of the reverent word of God? These attributed of the man who God regards is really resonating with me this week.

“Hear the word of the Lord, you who tremble at His word: “Your brethren who hate you, who cast you out for My name’s sake, have said, ‘Let the Lord be glorified, that we may see your joy!’ But it is they who shall be put to shame.” Isaiah 66:5 ->me: In the previous 2 verses Isaiah gets done explaining how the Lord sees the religious hypocrites and how He feels about the abomination of their misplaced sacrifices. Now he says that those some religious zealots will brow-beat those who truly fear the word of the Lord but to not be dismayed for the Lord will chose their afflictions, delusions, calamities, and mocking’s; because when He called none of them answered. They answered with appeasing their own sense of what is right delighted in their own abominations. Now we hear the instruction to those from yesterday’s QTVOTD (those who are humble, of contrite/broken spirit, and fear the word of the Lord reverently). When ‘you’ hear the put downs from those who love their own spirituality, do not lose heart; for they will reap the wrath of the Lord. The New testament also speaks of this in 2 Peter 3:3 “To begin with, you must know and understand this, that scoffers (mockers) will come in the last days with scoffing, [people who] walk after their own fleshly desires.” In other words: I should take heart in my own humble nature and obedience in the Lord…just make sure that my heart is in the right place and the Lord will have my back.

“THUS SAYS the Lord: Heaven is My throne, and the earth is My footstool. What kind of house would you build for Me? And what kind can be My resting-place? For all these things My hand has made, and so all these things have come into being [by and for Me], says the Lord. But this is the man to whom I will look and have regard: he who is humble and of a broken or wounded spirit, and who trembles at My word and reveres My commands.” Isaiah 66:1-2 ->me: I kind of have to let this one stand on it’s own. The Lord God has created everything for Him and by Him so what in the world do we think we could ever offer this Maker of the Universe that He does not have or could not call into existence with just a word. However, even as powerful as He is, He will look on with regard the humble man, with a contrite heart, and a fear for the Lord that is reverent before His word. Wow… Then John Piper this morning had a great point -> a river is not a river unless it has banks; otherwise it just runs everywhere and has no direction. Humbleness, repentant heart, fear of God, and respect for His word are my banks.