“Surely He has borne our griefs (sicknesses, weaknesses, and distresses) and carried our sorrows and pains [of punishment], yet we [ignorantly] considered Him stricken, smitten, and afflicted by God [as if with leprosy].” Isaiah 53:4 ->me: As many times as I have either read or listened to these verses in Isaiah 53, it is something else to sit down with the expectation that the Lord will reveal Himself while you pour over His word. What Jesus did, He did alone. He was the agent, we were the beneficiaries. Carried…a Hebrew word taken from Lev 16:22 meaning to shoulder or accept that burden as one’s own. Just as the person of the Servant (a genuine man Who was also the Arm of the Lord) could be grasped only by revelation, so also the TRUE understanding of His sufferings: THAT THEY WERE DELIBERATELY TAKEN BY HIM AND THAT THEY WERE IN REALITY OURS. The healing work of Jesus is for our TOTAL redemption, body as well as soul, and it comes from Him and from His work on the cross – Matthew 8:17. Our transgressions were the cause, His suffering to death was the effect. He took on Himself (stepping forward) the chastisement whereby our reconciliation with the Father was to be mended/fixed.
[QTVOTD] He KNOWS me…
“He was despised and rejected and forsaken by men, a Man of sorrows and pains, and acquainted with grief and sickness; and like One from Whom men hide their faces He was despised, and we did not appreciate His worth or have any esteem for Him.” Isaiah 53:3 ->me: I have made it to Isaiah 53! I have been looking forward to this day since I started my Quiet Times in Isaiah on May 24, 2017. Today – this God/Man sits at the right hand of God the Father in heaven as my advocate. He understands my pain, He understands my sadness, and He knows what makes me happy. He has walked this world and been the target of scorn, humbling, disappointment, and betrayal. He can and does sympathize with my situation and circumstances – He knows my struggle intimately (Hebrews 2:17 & 18). When I pray in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, I am calling on those understandings of My Savior, my representative Who intercedes between a Holy and Almighty Creator in heaven and myself. Jesus bore my sin on the cross; why would He stop now at giving me what is best for me and my path to achieving His righteousness. When I am following my Savior by learning about Him and doing my best to emulate Him, I can rest assured that He will prepare the path before me….that is so comforting!
[QTVOTD] Humble gratitude…
“[For many the Servant of God became an object of horror; many were astonished at Him.] His face and His whole appearance were marred more than any man’s, and His form beyond that of the sons of men—but just as many were astonished at Him,” Isaiah 52:14 ->me: This morning I am humbly reminded of the absolute inability to fully understand the totality of punishment Christ endured for me. As Isaiah says here – He was marred beyond recognition by those who saw Him. Jesus bore the sin of every human before and after His appearance on this earth. Such punishment, required to remove that sin, would undoubtedly have a devastating effect. Everything humans could thrown at Him was endured – punched in the face, hair ripped out, thorns pounded into His head, flogged with a whip that had shards of metal, clay, and other sharp bits tied into the ends, made to drag His cross out to Calvary (falling to His knees repeatedly), and the final straw was crucifixion…but that was not the largest of the enduring suffering He would have…He still needed to face God’s wrath on His soul and to finally pass through death itself. This reminder this morning is a humbling yet with such great gratitude for what my Savior did for me. This will be what I dwell on through the rest of my day…letting sink in, the weight and absolute mindboggling punishment He endured in my place so that I might have life everlasting…
[QTVOTD] The Caring Warrior…
“Depart, depart, go out from there [the lands of exile]! Touch no unclean thing! Go out of the midst of her [Babylon]; cleanse yourselves and be clean, you who bear the vessels of the Lord [on your journey from there]. For you will not go out with haste, nor will you go in flight [as was necessary when Israel left Egypt]; for the Lord will go before you, and the God of Israel will be your rear guard.” Isaiah 52:11-12 ->me: When I am redeemed by God I am to leave the spiritual situation I am in (steeped in sin) and start my pilgrimage to sanctification. I am to go out from the midst of my sinful life-style and never again touch anything that could cause me to stumble. There is no reason to quickly flee because when I have been redeemed there is no opposing power that can keep me in bondage. I come under every possible divine care and protection: God goes before me and guards my rear flank – He is the caring Warrior (Isaiah 40:10-11).
[QTVOTD] Be a watchman…
“How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good tidings, who publishes peace, who brings good tidings of good, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, Your God reigns! Hark, your watchmen lift up their voices; together they sing for joy; for they shall see eye to eye the return of the Lord to Zion.” Isaiah 52:7-8 ->me: A single runner meant good news from the battle field – 2 Samuel 18:24-25. This news however is the glorious news of the end of God’s wrath – Redemption without cost: Peace with God. News of Salvation – divine victory over every binding foe, and the power of sin’s oppression broken. Isaiah envisages a day (still future for us too) when faith will pass into sight and when the Lord returns to Zion, they will see it with their own eyes. Right on the heels of the herald comes the Lord Himself. ‘Eye to eye’ in this instance does not mean ‘in agreement’ like we would interpret it; more like ‘with total clarity’. Am I doing my best to be a watchman; bringing the good news to those around me? I have an opportunity to bring these good tidings to people that are hurting and need the Lord. Today I must work harder to grasp the opportunities God sets before me and pray that He would bring more of those opportunities my way.
[QTVOTD] Encourage one another…
“Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end.” Hebrews 3:12-14 ->me: Today I was blessed to talk to my brother in Christ and we were able to encourage one another and commit to standing by each other’s side on our roads to sanctification. Here are my takeaway’s from the verses above. ‘lest there be’ -> direct translation is ‘lest there shall be’ so a better English translation may be “lest there be, as I fear there is”. ‘leading you to fall away’ -> desert, or stand aloof form the Living God; to leave Christ is to depart the Living God (Heb 2:3). ‘as long as it is called “today”‘ -> While to-day lasts (the day of grace, before the coming of the day of glory and judgement at Christ’s coming). To-morrow is the day when idle men work and fools repent; meaning idle men are always putting off work until tomorrow and fools save repenting until tomorrow. To-morrow is satan’s to-day; he doesn’t care what good resolutions you form, if only you fix them for to-morrow. ‘Fellows with Christ’ -> partakers in the Holy Ghost. ‘Our original confidence’ -> The confidence of faith we have begun (Heb 6:11 and Heb 12:2). A Christian, so long as he is not made perfect, considers himself a beginner. [Another great message from John Piper on this topic]
[QTVOTD] Redeemed from a way of living…
“You must know (recognize) that you were redeemed (ransomed) from the useless (fruitless) way of living inherited by tradition from [your] forefathers, not with corruptible things [such as] silver and gold, but [you were purchased] with the precious blood of Christ (the Messiah), like that of a [sacrificial] lamb without blemish or spot.” 1 Peter 1:18-19 ->me: In reading Isaiah 52:3 this evening which says “For thus says the Lord: You were sold for nothing, and you shall be redeemed without money.” – ‘redeemed’ is a price paying concept, so the children of Israel will be redeemed with something other than money and of course we know what that is. Notice it doesn’t reference sin here – it references being redeemed FROM a way of living which is inherited. That way of living produces sin. When I accept the Salvation I have been given through the blood of Christ I then MUST never turn back to that old life which produces sin. What a great interleaving message into what Pastor Steve preached on this morning! – [Here is a link to his message]
[QTVOTD] Wrath averted…
“This is what your Sovereign Lord says, your God, who defends his people: See, I have taken out of your hand the cup that made you stagger; from that cup, the goblet of my wrath, you will never drink again.” Isaiah 51:22 ->me: Four things listed here defining Who the Lord is – 1) Sovereign over all things 2) The God Who saves/defends 3) YOUR God, committed to you 4) The God of absolute justice, Who pleads our case. This is the logic of God: A logic operating within the divine nature where the true reward of our deeds is (with perfect justice) averted and wrath satisfied. The cup of God’s wrath is now passed to those who do not accept God’s free gift of “wrath averted” through belief in His Son.
[QTVOTD] Just believe…
“Arouse yourself, awake! Stand up, O Jerusalem, you who have drunk at the hand of the Lord the cup of His wrath, you who have drunk the cup of staggering and intoxication to the dregs.” Isaiah 51:17 ->me: When God pours out His wrath there is no HELP, no COMFORT, and no FUTURE. God in His absolute holiness has no room for unbelief (unbelief is why the cup of wrath was poured out on the children of Israel). This is the root of why I am called to become a disciple and spread the good news. To let the world know that God has given them the ultimate gift in His Son to offer the removal of sins, and all it takes is one thing…BELIEF.
[QTVOTD] Creator…Redeemer
“I, even I, am He Who comforts you. Who are you, that you should be afraid of man, who shall die, and of a son of man, who shall be made [as destructible] as grass, that you should forget the Lord your Maker, Who stretched forth the heavens and laid the foundations of the earth, and fear continually every day because of the fury of the oppressor, when he makes ready to destroy or even though he did so? And where is the fury of the oppressor?” Isaiah 51:12-13 ->me: I love the possessive nouns Isaiah uses – ‘your Maker’. This passage carries through from the last few days of quiet times: That I should not fear, that God is my comforter, God is all that I need, in Him can I trust, and when I know Him I can stand tall. To forget Him – to live without consciously holding in mind and memory Who He is, what He has done, and what He promises – is to live in defeat and disobedience.