ISAIAH 61
Purpose of the Messiah’s first coming verse 1- 3
The SPIRIT of the Lord GOD is upon ME
because the LORD has anointed ME
to preach good tidings unto the meek
HE has sent ME to bind up the broken-hearted
to proclaim liberty to the captives
and the opening of the prison
to them that are bound
to proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD
and the day of vengeance of our God
to comfort all that mourn
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
Restoration of Israel’s glory in future verse 4- 7
And they shall build the old wastes
they shall raise up the former desolations
and they shall repair the waste cities
the desolations of many generations
And strangers shall stand and feed your flocks
and the sons of the alien
shall be your plowmen and your vinedressers
BUT you shall be named the priests of the LORD
men shall call you the Ministers of our God
you shall eat the riches of the Gentiles
and in their glory shall ye boast yourselves
FOR your shame you shall have double
and for confusion they shall rejoice in their portion
THEREFORE in their land they shall possess the double
everlasting joy shall be unto them
LORD’S promise to HIS people verse 8- 9
FOR I the LORD love judgment
I hate robbery for burnt offering
And I will direct their work in truth
and I will make an everlasting covenant with them
And their seed shall be known among the Gentiles
and their offspring among the people
all that see them shall acknowledge them
that they are the seed
which the LORD has blessed
Messiah’s second coming to set up HIS reign verse 10- 11
I will greatly rejoice in the LORD
MY soul shall be joyful in MY God
for HE has clothed ME with the garment of salvation
HE hath covered ME with the robe of righteousness
as a bridegroom decked himself with ornaments
and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels
FOR as the earth brings forth her bud
and as the garden causes the things
that are sown in it to spring forth
SO the Lord GOD will cause righteousness and praise
to spring forth before all the nations
COMMENTARY:
DAILY SPIRITUAL BREAKFAST: Young Believers
: 1 The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the broken-hearted; to proclaim liberty to the captives; and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; (4886 “anointed” [mashach] means consecrate, to spread over, oil, or smear.)
DEVOTION: The Holy Spirit was active in the ministry of Jesus Christ when HE first came to the earth as a little baby. HE was there when Jesus was baptized. HE was there to lead Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. HE was with the LORD while HE lived on the earth.
Jesus quoted this passage in Luke 4: 18, 19. HE was in the synagogue on the Sabbath day and stood to read. Once HE had closed the book HE stated: “This day is this Scripture fulfilled in your ears.” The LORD Jesus Christ knew who HE was and what HIS purpose was at this first coming to die on the cross for our sins.
HE preached good tidings concerning a promise of a future hope to those who would listen to HIS message. HE healed those who came to HIM to show that HIS message was true. HE promised that those who were suffering now would be given a place in heaven for eternity if they were followers of HIM. Those who were in prison even had hope that they could spend eternity with HIM.
We are here to proclaim the same message to those in our generation who become followers of the LORD. HE still have the power to cause the meek to inherit the earth. HE still can bind up the broken-hearted. HE gives hope to all those who turn to HIM from their sinful lifestyle. It is a message of hope to all generations.
First we need to believe that HIS promises are true and then we can proclaim HIS truths with zeal. Once we proclaim the truth of HIS provision we can follow up with a way for those who follow to have strength to live each day to the glory of God.
We lead by example. Do those around us see the truth of the Word of God manifested in our life like it was manifested in the life of Christ? We will never be sinless as HE was but we can admit our failures and still give a good example to those around us.
Proclaim the truth of the Word of God to all. Warn them that the LORD is returning soon. Some people are even hearing trumpets now. It is not the trumpets that sound for us to meet HIM in the air but the birth pangs are happening all around us.
CHALLENGE: He promised to call HIS church to HIMSELF at any time. Do we believe HE could call today???
DAILY SPIRITUAL LUNCH: Transitional Believers
: 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. (4594 “garment” [ma’ateh] means a vestment, wrap, mantle, or be in joyful state.)
DEVOTION: Once the LORD enters a life there is change. HE promised hope for the present and the future. The promise of the present is that HE will never leave us or forsake us. HE will be by our side through all of our trials.
The first verses describe the time of the LORD’S first coming to die on the cross for our sins. HE read it in the temple and told them that it was fulfilled in HIM. This next verse describes what will happen when HE comes back a second time after the Tribulation period is complete. There will be a restoration in Israel.
The Gentiles will come to Jerusalem to worship and serve the LORD. The Israelites will be the ministers of God. HE will turn their shame into everlasting joy. Then Christ will have all these promises fulfilled.
Today, we can have some of the joy, as we trust HIM more in our daily walk with HIM. All mourning or heaviness will not be gone but we can have spells of joy and praise.
We can realize that the LORD is walking with us throughout all our tribulations and trials. What can bring us joy now is the fact that HE is coming back to set up HIS kingdom. Our God keeps all HIS promises to us. Praise HIS name.
We can practice what we will do in heaven now. There should be praise coming out of our mouths on a regular basis. We have so many blessings now that we can share with others. Too often we look at the negative in our life instead of the positive things that are happening.
I get bogged down with some of the details of life. As we try to get things in order to keep all our commitments to the LORD we can get frustrated that things are not happening as quickly as we would like. I even lose things that I have saved on my computer. They are there but I don’t know how to retrieve them. It is frustrating but those are just little things compared to all the blessings I receive each day.
CHALLENGE: Look at the blessings the LORD is giving us each day instead of the frustrations of life that blind us to the blessings. Then share the blessings with others to encourage them to share their blessings with others.
DAILY SPIRITUAL SUPPER: Mature Believers
: 9 And their seed shall be known among the Gentiles, and their offspring among the people: all that see them shall acknowledge them that they are the seed which the LORD has blessed. (1288 “blessed” [barak] means to invoke (or enact) divine favor, often implying a positive disposition or kind actions toward the recipient, be praised, congratulates, or speak words invoking divine favor.)
DEVOTION: If you are wondering why such a small nation is receiving the blessings of the LORD. It is because they were chosen from the foundation of the world.
HE is the one who has the blessings to give to whomsoever HE chooses. HE has chosen Israel to bring the Savior into the world, Jesus Christ.
Many in Israel will not spend eternity with HIM but in the lake of fire with all those who have rejected the message of salvation in both Testaments of the Bible.
In the future the Bible says that Israel will be blessed again. It is hard for us to understand the working of the LORD but HE has created the world and chosen those HE has chosen to be HIS people to represent HIM to the rest of the world.
Today those who are believers are part of the church of Jesus Christ now. Those who worship HIM in spirit and in truth are blessed of HIM. The church is still growing in spite of so many “false churches” that are not preaching the Word of God but another gospel that has not come from God
Many who call themselves Christians are not confessing their sins on a regular basis and are doing things that are displeasing to the LORD. These individuals, if they are saved, have the promise that they will be saved “yet so as by fire.” Their works will be burned because once they had made a commitment to HIM that was genuine they stopped worshiping HIM properly. (Many who think they are saved are not really saved and will end up in Hell for eternity.)
God is the final judge as to those who are genuine believers and those who are not. One group will stand before the Judgment Seat of Christ for their rewards which might be few because the Bible says that they will be saved “yet so as by fire.” Another ground that have faithfully served the LORD will stand before the Judgment Seat of Christ and receive MANY rewards. They served the LORD faithfully and confessed their sins on a regular basis. They kept short accounts with the LORD and listened to the Holy Spirit regularly.
Those who are not saved or followers of the LORD will stand before the LORD at the Great White Throne Judgment to receive their punishment for not following the LORD. There are degrees of punishment in Hell for eternity.
CHALLENGE: What group will you be in? The choice is made now while we are living. We are not sinless once we become believers but we should sin less. Confessing and keeping short accounts with the LORD.
___________________________________________________________
:10 I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul shall be joyful in my God; For He has clothed me with the garments of salvation, He has covered me with the robe of righteousness as a bridegroom decks himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. The New King James Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982).
DEVOTION: What does it take for a believer to rejoice and be glad in the Lord? Isaiah declares that as people recognized the blessings of God upon their lives they would rejoice. Knowing that salvation and righteousness was theirs caused the people to rejoice and be glad. These two garments were the clothing the people of Israel put on to celebrate and to be married. The decked himself out with a turban and the bride wore costly jewels. All this to celebrate and to announce their special day.
Whether in the millennium or today the special garments we wear state the emotions or status we feel is ours. The suits and ties that announced professional status and the business attire that marked a certain standard of excellence was customary in the past, the same is true here as Isaiah states what to look for in the believers life! May our lives be marked with the clear clothing that describes my relationship with Christ.
CHALLENGE: As Isaiah was presenting the image of clothing to demonstrate what a believer’s inner life should look like so we are to put on the garments of the new life in Christ. Colossians states it this way, “Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection. And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.” The New King James Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982). Be clothed in Christ likeness today! (Dr. Brian Miller – board member)
__________________________________________________
DISCIPLINES OF THE FAITH:
BODY
Chastity (Purity in living)
Fasting (Time alone with LORD without eating or drinking)
Sacrifice (Giving up something we want to serve the LORD)
Submission (Willing to listen to others and LORD)
Solitude (Going to a quiet place without anyone)
SOUL
Fellowship (Gathering together around the Word of God)
Frugality (wise use of resources)
Journalizing (Writing down what you have learned from the LORD)
Study and Meditation (Thinking through your study in the Word)
Secrecy (Doing your good deeds without others knowing but God)
SPIRIT
Celebration (Gathering around a special occasion to worship LORD)
Confession (Tell the LORD we are sorry for our sins on a daily basis)
Prayer (Conversation with God on a personal level)
Silence (Letting the LORD deal with some problems and needs)
Worship (Time to praise the LORD alone or in a group)
Burnt offerings verse 8
Rejoice verse 10
__________________________________________________________
DOCTRINES OF THE FAITH:
Scripture (66 inerrant books of the Bible)
God the Father (First person of the Godhead)
Lord – Adonai (Master, Owner) verse 1, 11
GOD – Jehovah (Covenant keeping, Personal) verse 1, 11
Lord GOD verse 1, 11
LORD – Jehovah verse 1- 3, 6, 8 – 10
God – Elohim (Creator, Sovereign) verse 2, 6, 10
Judge verse 8
God the Son (Second person of the Godhead –God/man, Messiah)
Messiah’s first coming verse 1- 3
Messiah’s second coming verse 4- 11
God the Holy Spirit (Third person of the Godhead – our comforter)
Spirit of the LORD comes upon people verse 1
Trinity (Three persons of the Godhead who are co-equal = ONE God)
Angels (Created before the foundation of the world – Good and Evil)
Man (Created on the sixth twenty-four hour period of creation)
Meek verse 1
Brokenhearted verse 1
Strangers verse 5
Alien verse 5
Gentiles verse 6, 9
Bridegroom verse 10
Bride verse 10
Nations verse 11
Sin (Missing the mark set by God on man and angels)
Shame verse 7
Confusion verse 7
Robbery verse 8
Salvation (Provided by Christ’s death on the cross for our sins)
Anointed verse 1
Meek verse 1
Preach verse 1
Bind up the brokenhearted verse 1
Proclaim liberty verse 1
Comfort verse 2
Joy verse 3, 7, 10
Praise verse 3, 11
Righteous verse 3, 11
Glorify the LORD verse 3
Repair verse 4
Priests of the LORD verse 6
Ministers of God verse 6
Eat the riches of the Gentiles verse 6
Everlasting joy verse 7
Truth verse 8
Covenant verse 8
Blessed verse 9
Rejoice verse 10
Garments of salvation verse 10
Robe of righteousness verse 10
Righteousness verse 11
Israel (Old Testament people of God)
Me = Isaiah verse 1- 11
Anointed of the LORD
Preacher of good tidings to the meek
Bind the brokenhearted
Proclaim liberty to the captives
Opening of the prison to them that
are bound
Proclaim the acceptable year of the
LORD and the day of vengeance
of our God
To comfort all that mourn
Give beauty for ashes
Build up old wastes
Raise up former desolations
Their seed shall be known among the
Gentiles
Seed the LORD has blessed
Zion verse 3
Priests of the LORD verse 6
Ministers of our God verse 6
Church (New Testament people of God)
Last Things (Future Events)
Acceptable year of the LORD verse 2
Day of vengeance verse 2
Everlasting joy verse 7
Everlasting covenant verse 8
__________________________________________________________
DONATIONS:
Remember that all donations to Small Church Ministries are greatly appreciated. The treasurer will send a receipt, at the end of the year unless otherwise requested. Please be sure to make check out to “Small Church Ministries.” The address for the treasurer is P.O. Box 604, East Amherst, New York 14051. A second way to give to the ministry is through PayPal on the website: www.smallchurchministries.org. Also, if you can support this ministry through your local church please use that method. Thank you!
_____________________________________________________________
QUOTES regarding passage
10–11. The motif of ‘clothing’ expresses character and commitment. To be clothed with garments of salvation is to be commissioned and fitted to be Saviour; to accept the clothes stands for self-commitment to the task. A decisive point has been reached in the delineation of the Anointed One: his sharing of himself with his family (59:21) and the blessings he brings (61:1–4) are now seen as a saving work. At the outset (59:14–17), the Lord’s distress over his helpless people was such that he robed himself as Saviour. Now he confers this task on the Anointed One, who accepts the task with delight and rejoicing (10ab). Salvation … righteousness: the former is that which meets our need; the latter what meets the Lord’s holy standards. Robe: a ‘wrap’ (see 3). Bridegroom … bride: as their garments proclaim to all that they are bridegroom and bride and announce their commitment to marriage, so with the same care the Lord has fitted his Anointed One for the saving work. This, then, is the first reason for his joy (For, 10c): he has been designated and equipped by the Lord. The second reason (For, 11a) is that the work is destined to succeed; it is as certain as the processes of germination and growth. As with come up (‘sprout’) and seeds, the Sovereign Lord will himself see to it that this will come to universal (nations) fruition (spring). Righteousness … praise: the former is the saving work as it satisfies God (10c), the latter is the response it excites in the recipients. (Motyer, J. A. (1999). Isaiah: an introduction and commentary (Vol. 20, p. 430). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.)
___________________________________________________________
10–11 The speaker in these verses is probably personified Zion, who expresses her unbounded joy in God. The analogy of clothing (v.10), already employed in v.3, appears again. Its appropriateness is due to the fact that clothing often expresses either status or mood or both. Paul uses the same kind of language in relation to Christian salvation, for example, in Romans 13:14 and Ephesians 4:22–24.
The final verse of the chapter (v.11) reminds us of 55:10–11. If it is an intentional allusion, then it will support the theme of God’s faithfulness (v.8). God’s faithful word will secure the growth of righteousness and praise in his people, which will be publicly displayed, as at a bridal feast, before all the nations. (Grogan, G. W. (1986). Isaiah. In F. E. Gaebelein (Ed.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel (Vol. 6, p. 334). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.)
_____________________________________________________________
61:10–11. In these verses the prophet seems to be speaking for the redeemed remnant who will rejoice (cf. comments on 9:3) in response to God’s blessings mentioned in 61:1–9. Salvation and righteousness are pictured as clothes worn by the people (cf. God’s “clothes,” 59:17). In other words the Israelites are characterized by salvation (God’s redeemed people) and righteousness (those who are living by God’s standards; cf. 58:8; 60:21). To picture their joy and blessing a bridegroom wore a fancy headgear, like a priest’s turban, and the bride wore costly jewelry. God will cause Israel’s righteousness to spring up in (be known by) other nations (cf. 61:11; 62:1–2) much as the soil sustains the growth of plants. (Martin, J. A. (1985). Isaiah. In J. F. Walvoord & R. B. Zuck (Eds.), The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures (Vol. 1, p. 1116). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.)
_____________________________________________________________
The prophet speaks (Isa. 61:10–11). Isaiah is speaking on behalf of the remnant who are praising God for all He has done. They rejoice that He has cleansed them and clothed them and turned their desert into a fruitful garden (55:10). They have gone from a funeral to a wedding! (Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). Be Comforted (p. 156). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.)
__________________________________________________________
How much these wonderful promises should mean to God’s earthly people, and how we should be interested in them! Our blessings are heavenly. Theirs, to a great extent, will be earthly, and yet their salvation is just the same as our salvation. “He hath clothed me,” they will be able to sing in that day, “with the garments of salvation, He hath covered me with the robe of [His] righteousness.” Is not that true of us today? We who at one time were trying to piece out a covering for ourselves with the filthy rags of our own unrighteousness have cast that to one side and can say, “He hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, He hath covered me with the robe of [His] righteousness.”
God has provided a righteousness for men and women who have none of their own. And in that coming day, Israel will learn this precious truth—they will give up all pretense of their human righteousness and rejoice in the righteousness of God which will be bestowed upon them.
The prophet Jeremiah referring to this time says, “This is His name whereby He shall be called, [Jehovah-tsidkenu] the Lord our Righteousness.” And then a little farther on in his prophecy, speaking of Jerusalem and its restoration, he says, “This is the name whereby she shall be called, [Jehovah-tsidkenu] the Lord our Righteousness,” recognizing that she has no righteousness of her own, but the day will come when the people of Israel will find their righteousness in the Lord God Himself. What a blessed thing it is when we have learned that lesson even now! So many people have never learned it.
Years ago it was no easy thing when a colored school was first started in Dallas. There was no help financially, and as we vainly tried to interest people, I began to wonder if it was worthwhile to do anything for these colored people. After the third year as I was in Dallas to lecture I went to the school to give an address there one night. I said to my son, “It costs so much to run this and you are giving your very life for it, and I don’t know whether it is really worthwhile.” He looked at me rather strangely, and then said, “Why don’t you ask the men what they think about it?”
So before speaking that night, I said, “I would like to know what you men think of it. Is it a worthwhile investment? Are you getting enough out of it?” For many minutes there was not a sound. They sat there with downcast faces and no one said a word.
Finally one man got up and said, “I’ve been wondering if I heard aright. Did I understand that this school may be closed? If this school is closed, then I shall feel that the last bit of light for us poor colored people in Dallas has gone out, and we are just to be left in the dark. Let me tell you how I was in the dark. I was a pastor of a church for thirteen years. I didn’t know the gospel. I didn’t know how sinners were saved. I preached. The people came together and I baptized them and they joined the church—and they shouted and they went on. I thought if I put on plenty of ‘arousements’ and got them all going, that that was the power of the Holy Spirit. I heard about this school, but I was kind of prejudiced when I heard a white man was running it. I thought there must be something queer about it. But finally I came one night.” He turned to me and went on, “Your son was speaking that night on the first three chapters of the Epistle to the Romans. It took away from me all the religion I’d been building up for thirteen years. I just sat there in a daze as he tore off one filthy rag after another until I stood there naked before God. I had no righteousness of my own and I thought I had so much. I thought I was doing so well. I went out of the class that night and went home and said, ‘What am I going to do? All that I’ve tried to do to fit myself for heaven is gone. I haven’t anything left.” I could hardly wait for the next class two nights later. That night he began in the middle of the third chapter of Romans and he went on to show that God had a righteousness for men who had none of their own. Oh, I can’t tell you what that meant to me! I found out that night I didn’t have to provide my own righteousness, God had provided one, and if I just trusted the Lord Jesus Christ, I was made the righteousness of God in Him. From that day to this I’ve been preaching the righteousness of God, and my people have been learning to see this great truth. Brother, don’t close up this school—it’s the only place I know where they open up these things to us colored folks.”
Many people try to build up a righteousness of their own—and poor Israel is doing that. The Apostle Paul says, “They being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God” (Rom. 10:3).
In this coming day everything will be changed. Their eyes opened, they will see in Christ their Redeemer and be able to sing with gladness, “He hath clothed me with the garments of salvation … covered me with the robe of righteousness.” (Ironside, H. A. (1952). Expository notes on the prophet Isaiah. (pp. 343–346). Neptune, NJ: Loizeaux Brothers.)
__________________________________________________________
Ver. 10. I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, &c.] These are not the words of the prophet spoken in his own person, rejoicing in the goodness of the Lord to his people and countrymen; nor of Christ; but of the church, especially the Jewish church, expressing her joy for benefits received, as declared in the preceding verses. The Targum is, “Jerusalem said, rejoicing I will rejoice in the Word of the Lord;” not in his word of promise, but in his essential Word, his Son the Messiah; in his person, offices, fulness, righteousness, and salvation: my soul shall be joyful in my God; in Christ, in that he is God, and so able to save to the uttermost, and keep from a final and total falling, and to preserve safe to his kingdom and glory: hence his person is excellent; his blood precious; his righteousness valuable; and his sacrifice efficacious; and all matter of joy to the believer: and who also rejoices in that he is his God, my God; God in our nature; Immanuel, God with us; the Godman and Mediator, through whom there is access to God and acceptance with him; and who stands in near relation to his people, and has all fulness to supply their wants, and makes all he has theirs; so that they have great reason to rejoice in him indeed. The Targum is, “my soul shall rejoice in the salvation of my God;” the nature of this joy may be collected from the text itself: it is not a carnal one, or the joy of a carnal man in carnal things, it is spiritual; nor a Pharisaical joy, a rejoicing in a man’s self, in his own works of righteousness, for this is in the Lord; nor is it a hypocritical one, or only externally, for it is the soul that rejoices; and it is the joy of faith, or in the Lord, as my God; and a very great one it is, joy unspeakable, and full of glory; and is what continues, as the matter and ground of it always does, as follows: for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation; with salvation as garments; the salvation of Christ, which, like garments, is without men, being wrought out by Christ; and is brought near, and applied by the spirit of Christ; and is all around, and encompasses the saints as such, and like them beautifies and adorns them, and keeps them warm and comfortable, when they have the joys of it; and which secures them from the storms of divine wrath and vengeance; and the plural number being used may denote the fulness and completeness of this salvation, from all sin, from wrath, hell, and damnation, and from every enemy: and this is matter of joy to the believer interested in it, and clothed with it; since it is a salvation so great; a garment so fitting and suitable, and had at free cost; and in which the glory of all the divine perfections is so conspicuous, as well as it being so full, complete, and perfect, and an everlasting one: he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness; not with her own, that is a rag, and not a robe, and a filthy one too, ch. 64:6 and no covering, and is indeed no righteousness, properly speaking; but the righteousness of Christ, the best robe, the wedding garment, and change of raiment, which, like a robe, is upon believers, but not in them; it is in Christ, and imputed to them; it covers their persons and their nakedness, and all their sins, so as not to be seen with the eye of avenging justice: to clothe and cover with it is God’s act of imputation, and Christ’s application of it by his spirit, Zech. 3:4 which, perceived by the believer, causes great joy; it being all of a piece, like Christ’s seamless robe, and so pure and spotless, so perfect and complete, and so rich and glorious: as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments; or, adorns himself in a princely or priestly manner; for the word used signifies both. The sense is, as a bridegroom puts on the best clothes he has on his wedding-day, and makes the appearance of a prince in his richest robes, or as the high-priest when he had on all his sacerdotal garments; so the Targum, “as a bridegroom that flourishes in his bridechamber, and as the high-priest who is adorned with his garments:” and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels; or implements; and makes herself as fine as she can, to recommend herself to her spouse and her friends: thus richly and magnificently arrayed is the church of Christ, and every believer, being clothed with his righteousness; he and they are in the same relation; he’s the bridegroom, they the bride; and they are clothed alike with the garment down to the foot; and are righteous as he is righteous; and are herewith as a bride adorned and made ready for her husband; and the joy at such a solemnity fitly expresses the mutual joy of Christ and his church; see Rev. 19:7, 8 and 21:2; Isa. 62:5 so Christ’s righteousness is compared to a wedding garment, Matt. 22:12.
Ver. 11. For as the earth bringeth forth her bud, &c.] Of tender grass in the spring of the year, after a long and cold winter, being well manured: and as the garden causeth the things that are sown in it to spring forth; being enclosed, and better taken care of, and well watered, and dunged, and cultivated; seeds sown in such a rich soil spring up freely, strongly, and constantly: so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations: that is, the righteousness and salvation of his people through Christ, by which they shall be justified and saved; and on account of which they shall praise the Lord, and shall be to honour and praise themselves, being interested in those blessings in the sight of all the Christian nations around them. It respects the conversion of the Jews, and their justification and salvation, and the suddenness of it, and the large numbers of them converted, who should rise up at once like the buds of grass out of the earth; and denotes the flourishing condition in which they shall be, like a garden abounding with all manner of flowers and fruit; and suggests how full of joy, thankfulness, and praise to God they should be, and how honourable in the sight of men; and all this will be the Lord’s doing, and owing to his efficacious grace. The Targum is, “so the Lord God will reveal the righteousness and praise of Jerusalem before all the people.” (Gill, J. (1810). An Exposition of the Old Testament (Vol. 5, p. 362). London: Mathews and Leigh.)
__________________________________________________________
FROM MY READING:
(Remember the only author that I totally agree with is the HOLY SPIRIT in the inerrant WORD OF GOD called THE BIBLE! All other I try to gleam what I can to help me grow in the LORD!!)
____________________________________________________________
Kim posts (MO): An Obituary printed in the London Times…..Absolutely Brilliant!!
Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, Common Sense, who has been with us for many years. No one knows for sure how old he was, since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape. He will be remembered as having cultivated such valuable lessons as:
– Knowing when to come in out of the rain; – Why the early bird gets the worm;
– Life isn’t always fair;
– And maybe it was my fault.
Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies (don’t spend more than you can earn) and reliable strategies (adults, not children, are in charge).
His health began to deteriorate rapidly when well-intentioned but overbearing regulations were set in place. Reports of a 6-year-old boy charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate; teens suspended from school for using mouthwash after lunch; and a teacher fired for reprimanding an unruly student, only worsened his condition.
Common Sense lost ground when parents attacked teachers for doing the job that they themselves had failed to do in disciplining their unruly children.
It declined even further when schools were required to get parental consent to administer sun lotion or an aspirin to a student; but could not inform parents when a student became pregnant and wanted to have an abortion.
Common Sense lost the will to live as the churches became businesses; and criminals received better treatment than their victims and everything was politically correct.
__________________________________________________________
The steadily deteriorating state of religious freedom in China has been a frequent topic of late, both here on BreakPoint and other media outlets. The picture is bleak. An estimated one million Muslim Uighurs have been detained in what are essentially re-education camps, as part of an attempt to erase their religious and cultural identity.
There’s also been a strong assault on Chinese Christianity. What little freedom Chinese Christians had is now being taken away: Provincial officials have demolished crosses, cracked down on house churches, arrested pastors, and put officially-recognized churches under tighter control.
Thus, the recent report out of Liaoning province, a region near the border with North Korea, shouldn’t surprise us. It should trouble and appall us, but not surprise us.
According to the Australian website MercatorNet, the Education Bureau of Lishan district” in Liaoning “issued a plan for the campaign to resist religious beliefs in kindergartens.”
The plan prohibits schools from “hiring [new] teachers who hold religious beliefs.” With regard to existing teachers, it calls for increased supervision, including “comprehensive inspections of teachers’ preparation for lessons in order to root out any and all religious content.”
But the plan doesn’t stop with teachers. Students, as well as teachers, are now required to “sign a commitment statement promising they won’t browse religious websites or participate in religious forums.” The statement reads in part, “I will adhere to the correct political direction, advocate science, promote atheism, and oppose theism.”
These are kindergartners!
It’s not only in that province. Students in other parts of China have also been coerced into signing anti-religious pledges. And there are reports of students who, because they refused to sign, have been beaten.
Unfortunately, short of divine intervention, it may be that things will get significantly worse. As I’ve told you before on BreakPoint, Xi Jinping has become the most powerful Chinese leader since Mao. Like Mao, Xi has fostered a cult of personality. He calls himself lingxiu, a reverential term for “leader” not heard since the days of Mao. It’s very similar to what Fuehrer means in German. Fawning coverage of Xi in official media borders on self-parody.
Christians have been in the crosshairs of the Xi Jinping cult. Believers in south China have been forced to take down pictures of Jesus from their walls and replace them with pictures Xi Jinping.
Not only is he a jealous would-be god, he’s also an insecure one. To understand why, you need to understand that the source of the Communist Party’s legitimacy has been economic growth. For the past forty years, the Chinese people have been asked to trade certain freedoms that we take for granted, such as freedom of speech and religion, for increasing prosperity. That trade has preserved a measure of social order.
But now, many economists see signs that the good times are coming to an end in China. In fact, that may be an understatement. It could be something even worse. As the Wall Street Journal reports, “China’s consumers and businesses are losing confidence. Car sales have plunged. The housing market is stumbling. Some factories are letting workers off for the big Lunar New Year holiday two months early.”
In other words, the Communist Party may not be able to keep up its end of the bargain. If they fail, ordinary Chinese people could remember everything they’ve had to put up with and get angry. Very angry.
So how will Xi respond to this? We already know the answer to that question. He will crack down even harder. Cult leaders don’t admit mistakes, much less give up their power voluntarily. They look for scapegoats and hunt for heretics.
In China, Christians qualify as both. As adherents to what many Chinese regard as a “Western” religion, their loyalties can be called into question. And they’ll likely not join Xi’s cult of personality, so they will be ideal targets.
All of this is why our brothers and sisters there need our prayers. And our voice. We must urge our government and U. S. corporations that do business in China to use their influence on behalf of persecuted Chinese Christians. (John Stonestreet, the host of The Point, a daily national radio program, provides thought-provoking commentaries on current events and life issues from a biblical worldview. John holds degrees from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (IL) and Bryan College (TN), and is the co-author of Making Sense of Your World: A Biblical Worldview.)
_________________________________________________
Psalms 100
All men are exhorted to praise the Lord because He made us and we are His.
INSIGHT
Psalm 100 is perhaps the finest example of a praise psalm in the Bible. The righteous heart pours forth a spontaneous stream of undefiled praise. First, he calls upon all men everywhere to praise the Lord. Then he identifies the relationship which God has with His children. We are not our own; He has made us. “We are His people and the sheep of His pasture” (v. 3). Next he calls for us to praise God again: “Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise” (v. 4). Give thanks. Bless Him. Then he finishes by listing attributes of God. God is good; He loves forever. Make this psalm your personal psalm of praise. (Quiet Walk)
___________________________________________________
The Word of His Grace
“And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified.” (Acts 20:32)
Many beautiful descriptors are used in the New Testament to illustrate the powers of the Word of God, both spoken and written. For example, the Lord Jesus is called “the Word of life” in 1 John 1:1, and Paul, speaking of the Scriptures, reminded the Philippian Christians that they should be “holding forth the word of life” (Philippians 2:16).
Jesus called the Scriptures, which were to be spread through the world like seed sown in a field, “the word of the kingdom” (Matthew 13:19). The apostle Paul called them “the word of faith, which we preach” (Romans 10:8). Quoting a particular Scripture, he spoke of it as “the word of promise” (Romans 9:9).
As His witnesses and ambassadors, it is to us that He “hath committed…the word of reconciliation” (2 Corinthians 5:19), wherewith we are to beseech men to be reconciled to God. Paul also said that “the word of truth” was nothing less than “the gospel of your salvation” (Ephesians 1:13).
The writer of Hebrews called it “the word of exhortation” (Hebrews 13:22). In writing through John to the faithful church at Philadelphia, the Lord Jesus commended them because they had “kept the word of my patience” (Revelation 3:10).
But undoubtedly one of the most beautiful and meaningful of such metaphors of God’s Word is the one found in our text (and also in Acts 14:3), that is, “the word of his grace.”
There is no grander theme in the Bible than the unmerited, abundant, inexhaustible, saving grace of God in Christ, and it is fitting that God’s eternal Word be known as “the word of His grace.” The book, in fact, ends on this very note. “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen” (Revelation 22:21).
(HMM, The Instiitute for Creation Research
_________________________________________________________
“A rattlesnake bit one of my sheep in the face about a week ago. Deadliest snake that lives around here. The sheep’s face swelled up and hurt her terribly.
Author Unknown
__________________________________________________________
BEWARE OF MOLINISM (Friday Church News Notes, February 8, 2019, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) – Molinism is a theology developed by 15th century Jesuit priest Luis de Molina as a half-way thing “between Calvinism and Arminianism.” It is defined as follows by Jake Rainwater: “Molinism is an attempt to reconcile God’s sovereignty and man’s responsibility through the use of ‘middle knowledge.’ Between God’s ‘natural knowledge’ of everything that could be and God’s free knowledge of everything that is, there is God’s middle knowledge of everything that would be” (“Salvation and Sovereignty: A Molinist Approach,” Oct. 3, 2017). If you don’t understand that, you are not alone! Molina himself didn’t understand it. “Middle knowledge” is a worthy addition to the many other inscrutable Calvinist terms, such as supralapsarianism, sublapsarianism, infralapsarianism, compatibalism, monergism, synergism, hypothetical atonement, libertarian free will, subjective grace, immediate imputation, desiderative will, and antecedent hypothetical will. A major proponent of Molinism today is Southern Baptist Kenneth Keathley, professor of theology at Southeastern Baptist Seminary in Wake Forest, North Carolina. Keathley’s book Salvation and Sovereignty: A Molinist Approach is listed on the “Reading for Leading” list of Paul Chappell, pastor of Lancaster Baptist Church of Lancaster, California. Keathley’s approach is described as follows: “Molina’s middle knowledge is key for Keathley’s soteriology. After introducing and laying the framework in the first two chapters, Keathley borrows Timothy George’s ROSES framework (an alternate to TULIP – Radical depravity, Overcoming grace, Sovereign election, Eternal life, Singular redemption) to unpack his Molinist soteriology. Keathley is a clear writer, and has the ability to bring lofty concepts such as the workings of the Molinism and soteriology down to an accessible level.” Reformed Theology has spread widely throughout the Southern Baptist Convention in recent decades, having first captured its seminaries, and it is spreading rapidly among the more intellectual Independent Baptists, with Bob Jones University graduates at the forefront. In truth, Molinism is Jesuitical philosophical junk. Some men can’t simply and humbly accept what the Bible says; they must try to bind Bible teaching into a philosophical package (which they call systematic theology). And Molinism holds to the fundamental error of John Calvin and his mentor Augustine, which is “sovereign election” (or “unconditional election”). The Bible’s approach is foreknowledge election, not “sovereign election.” That’s what we see in two major passages on election, Romans 8:29-30 and 1 Peter 1:2. The Bible begins with God’s foreknowledge. And fore-knowledge is not fore-will; the Greek proginosko (verb) andprognosis (noun) in Ro. 8:29 and 1 Pe. 1:2 mean “to know beforehand, to foresee, forethought.”Foreknowledge election, which is the plain teaching of Scripture, allows for and encompasses all that the Bible says about human free will and choice and the fact that the gospel is for whosoever will. Election is as complicated as God Himself, but it is simple enough at a basic level as revealed in Scripture. The doctrine of the Trinity, too, has a basic simplicity that a child can understand, if we let the Bible speak for itself in its own words and don’t try to go beyond Scripture. “The Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world”! Foreknowledge election is something I can teach to highly literate and illiterate, which I do in our missionary work. I don’t have to try to explain dense, manmade terms. If you try to philosophize and enter into the mysteries of God’s eternal counsels beyond the Bible’s actual teaching in the Bible’s own precise words, you waste a lot of time and enter dangerous spiritual territory.
_________________________________________________________
Deuteronomy 8
Moses reminds the Israelites of the Lord’s blessings on them.
INSIGHT
Following God has never been easy. God never intended for it to be. He tests us to know what is in our hearts and to teach us that we do not live by bread alone. When things are too easy, we tend to be ungrateful. We tend not to give God the recognition for His blessing. In chapter 8, we see God’s love and care, along with His tests and trials. We need both to be healthy. To grow, we need sunshine and rain.
___________________________________________________________
We now have a Facebook page for Small Church Ministries – please invite others to join us on Facebook. Thank you. Look for the logo from the devotionals.