ISAIAH 30:12 - 33:12
THE REMNANT: "And therefore will the Lord wait...." When we come to the Lord we find Him waiting with forgiveness and blessing. Instead of being led by the world-spirit, world-thought, world-systems, we are led by the Holy Spirit in paths of righteousness. As long as we keep going FORWARD, the voice of the Spirit will tell us when we need to turn. Think of it this way: The voice behind us, the promise in front of us. As we obey the voice, we walk toward the promise. We find our joy in the Lord God - He is not the means to an end, but He is the END of our search! Troubles and judgment can cleanse me and make me cling to God - - - or I can choose to rebel and the troubles will destroy me.
"WOE" TO GOD'S PEOPLE WHO TRY TO REBEL AGAINST HIM:
Chap 28: Woe to those who try to take God's glory for themselves (drunken thinking). Making deals with our flesh leads to self-destruction. Lies become a refuge. They make their bed and now they have to sleep in it.
Chap 29: Woe to those who turn away from God to do external "lip-service" and keep up appearances, while their hearts are unfaithful to God. Since they blinded themselves to Truth, God will cause them to be truly blind to spiritual things. And secondarily, woe to those who think they are smarter than God - who try to hide their plans and their sin from Him.
Chap 30: Woe to those to make plans without consulting the Lord, especially in making "deals" outside the will of God (compromising with the flesh). These plans always spiral out of control and into disaster. We can't rely on the "arm of the flesh" to save us - - - but must cling to God in obedience and trust. Real strength is in "sitting still". (30:7b)
Chap 31-32: Woe to those who rely on "might" to save them. Going to Egypt for help is like going back to our old life for "wisdom" in Life. Egypt (The world-spirit of antichrist) is marked for destruction, and if we are "on the playing field", we will be destroyed with them.
In the midst of trouble, the REMNANT will follow their "Righteous King" (Jesus). Each follower will be "a refuge from the wind, a shelter from the storm, streams of water in a dry country, and the shade of a huge rock in a parched land". The remnant become heavenly or godly INFLUENCE, CHANNELS OF BLESSING, MINISTERS OF COMPASSION. The women of Jerusalem are the complacent Church, never giving God a thought. Restoration will come when the Spirit is poured out and people get an eternal perspective, sowing God's Word everywhere and allowing God to have free reign in all we do.
CHAP 33: Woe to the "Destroyer" (Assyria): The principle is this: Whatever is done to God's people, whether good or bad, is taken personally by the Lord as if done directly against Him! God will see to it that everyone will receive in turn whatever he dishes out to others. (Gal 6:7). Isaiah interceded with God for the rescue of Judah, and God intervened. Vs.6, God alone shall be "the stability of our times and the strength of our salvation".
RESPONSE: Survivors come through troubled times untouched. The remnant gets their hair messed up because they become "refuge, shelter, waters, and shade." Our influence is most felt in the time of trouble. We must be ready all the time, because we never know when God is going to blow on someone. Of course, if we are relying on the same fleshly things or things that are part of the world-system as everyone else, then our substitutes and counterfeits will be blown away too!
GALATIANS 5:1-12
FREEDOM: Christ set us free for FREEDOM, not to go back into bondage again. Don't exchange one bondage (to sin and death) for another bondage (to legalism and the Law).
Circumcision is a commitment! Doing it for religious reasons signals a return to outward rituals. (1) If you can be SAVED by being circumcised, then Jesus died for nothing! If circumcision makes you righteous, then why not cut the whole thing off!!!? Jesus or Circumcision: which One will it be? You can't have both! (2) If you want to live under the Law, you become a debtor to the whole Law! See Jam 2:10. (3) You have fallen from grace. When you try to mix Law in with Grace, you lose the grace. Grace or Law: which one will it be? When we choose to operate in the flesh (Law) we close ourselves off from God's provision. Law and grace cannot work together; they are incompatible. (4) When we "fall from grace", we are excluded from righteousness. Righteousness is not from outside pressure, but from inside power. God GAVE it to us, and the indwelling Holy Spirit enacts it.
FREEDOM IS NOT: (1)The "right" to indulge the flesh. ("for an opportunity for the flesh") Freedom should not lead to corruption. Freedom does not mean we can do anything we want to. (2) The "right" to injure others. ("by love serve one another"). You don't have the freedom to "bite and devour one another". We are to be self-sacrificing in our attitude toward others and in that way, our freedom actually becomes a kind of slavery! (grin) (3) Freedom is not the "right" to ignore the laws of God. In fact, nothing could be further from the Truth! Freedom from the Law means being free from trying to earn salvation through keeping the law, and being free from the penalty of the law for not keeping it. The fact is, we are now subject to a higher law: LOVE.
RESPONSE: Submission and obedience to God (Truth) is the only way to stay free. It is WORK to be saved because our flesh is such a slave-driver! But the work involved is not trying to be GOOD. It is in trying to stay in ABIDING-relationship to God while our flesh is being crucified. So the "job" we have as believers, is actually to enjoy God. As we please God, staying close to Him, clinging to Him, obeying Him, trusting Him, we are free NOT to sin, NOT to be selfish and self-serving, NOT to fear going to hell, NOT to be afraid of what people think.
PSALM 63:1-11
WHEN I AM HUNGRY FOR GOD: Even my FLESH longs for God! We are sustained by "seeing" God when we worship. Don't leave His Presence until you are fully satisfied. In the desert with no water, no food, no friends, God is the ONLY THING that is absolutely essential to life. God is my defense, but even more, my Desire, and my Delight.
PROVERBS 23:22
I must quote this right from the source, because it is so offensive!
"Despise not thy mother when she is old." "A very necessary caution, as very old women are generally helpless, useless, and burdensome." (from Adam Clarke's Commentary)
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