08/01/2020 – Day 069 – Isaiah 51-55 – How about repentence before the altar call?
“Before we can begin to see the cross as something done for us, we have to see it as something done by us.” John Stott
Our church service this morning – the Parkside Church online stream with Pastor Alistair Begg covered just half of Samuel Chapter 25. And at the end, Nancy and I were still clamoring for more. It is the blessing of expository preaching.
So, we could spend the entire year with Isaiah 51 – 55. But our task here is to draw a foundation for future study from this one year of “taking daily drinks of water with a fire hose”, as we learn how to let scripture testify to scripture , building the house as it were, from the foundation.
I quote – Isaiah 55: 6-9:
“Seek the Lord while He may be found, Call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way. And the unrighteous man his thoughts; Let him return to the Lord, And He will have mercy on him; And to our God, For He will abundantly pardon. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways, says the Lord. For as the heavens are higherf than the earth; So are my ways higher than your ways, And my thoughts than your thoughts.”
My footnote on 55:7 comments: “This is repentence. The sinner is not only to forsake his thoughts, but also his way (actions). It is more than an intellectual acknowledgement that he has sinned. He must turn from those sins — he must confess and forsake them (see Proverbs 28:13) In doing so, he will be abundantly pardoned. Repentence is not a ‘work’, as some would say. It is God-given to sinners, as is faith. See Acts 5:31…”
And then my comment footnote to the verse we are all familiar with – John 3:16: (Jimmy note – This is a major take away for how we should witness…)
“If I had my way, I would declare a moratorium on public preaching of ‘the plan of salvation’ in America for one to two years. Then I would call on everyone who has use of the airwaves and the pulpits to preach the holiness of God, the righteousness of God , and the Law of God, until sinners cry out, ‘What must we do to be saved?’ Then I would take them off in a corner and whisper the gospel to them. Don’t use John 3:16. Such drastic action is needed because we have gospel hardened a generation of sinners by telling them how to be saved befoe they have any understanding why they need to be saved.” Paris Redhead
Isaiah 53:4 “Jesus in the Old Testament”
“What is the one miracle that undeniably proves divinity? The ability to accurately to accurately predict the future. As you read Isaiah 53, keep in mind that this prophecy about Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, was written over 600 years, before He came to this earth. This accurate prediction of the brutal suffering and death of the Messiah proves that the Bible was written by God:
- The Messiah would be so brutally beaten that one could barely tell He was human (Isa 52:14)
- The Savior would be despised and rejected by men (Isa 53: 3,4)
- The Messiah would be beaten and wounded by men to pay the price for our sins (vv 5,6)
- The Savior would not open His mouth when He was accused (v.7)
- Messiah would be imprisoned (v 8)
- The Savior would be killed with criminals but buried in a rich man’s grave (v 9)
Isaiah concludes this amazing description of a murdered Messiah with this stunning sentence: ‘Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief (v 10). It was God who crushed His only Son on our behalf (v. 12) When God looked at the cross, He saw you. Now, when God looks at you, He sees Jesus.
This prophecy alone should convince anyone that the Bible is supernatural.”
Soli Deo Gloria!