The Relevance of Isaiah’s Warnings in Modern Society

Posted on by Adrian Clark
Cloaked traveler walking a rocky path through mountains at sunset with a castle in the valley

“But the people have not returned to him who struck them, nor have they sought the Lord Almighty. So the Lord will cut off from Israel both head and tail, both palm branch and reed in a single day; the elders and dignitaries are the head, the prophets who teach lies are the tail.“
“Surely wickedness burns like a fire; it consumes briers and thorns, it sets the forest thickets ablaze, so that it rolls upwards in a column of smoke.”
“Woe to those who make unjust laws, to those who issue oppressive decrees, to deprive the poor of their rights and withhold justice from the oppressed of my people, making widows their prey and robbing the fatherless.“
“Yet for all this, his anger is not turned away, his hand is still upraised.”
Isaiah 9:13-15, 10:1-2, 4b NIVUK

The section of Scripture from Isaiah 9:8 to 10:4 provides some terrible verses that are difficult to read, under the heading “The Lord’s Anger against Israel”, and one sentence is repeated three times: “Yet for all this, his anger is not turned away, his hand is still upraised.” We read the future tense with repeated “the Lord will” throughout the prophecy, detailing terrible events coming, yet despite all the warnings, and with the benefit of hindsight, we know Israel ignored them. The worrying thing is that some of the warnings can apply to our secular society today. We read “…for everyone is ungodly and wicked, every mouth speaks folly”. Then there is “wickedness burns like a fire” and a reference to “those who make unjust laws” and “those who issued oppressive decrees”. There are those who “withhold justice from the oppressed of [God’s] people”. But God asks the question, one that has hung in the air over all people and all generations ever since – “What will you do on the day of reckoning”?

I would contend that God’s hand is still upraised today and will continue to be as He allows sin and wickedness to continue in the hearts, minds, and actions of human beings, all of whom will one day be required to give an account of their lives before Him. In Old Testament times, God’s judgments were applied within a few generations, but in our New Covenant times, God is holding back until the final day, when Jesus will occupy the “Great White Throne”. The Apostles’ Creed includes the words, and referring to Jesus, “He ascended into heaven, and sitteth at the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence He shall come to judge the living and the dead”. One day, there will be a time of judgement because we live in a moral universe, and the scales so skewed by wickedness will be rebalanced, and God’s hand will finally be lowered. 

We pilgrims know, I’m sure, that our names are written in the “Lamb’s Book of Life” and we will escape the wrath to come. Not, I should add, by a grudging God, but because we have turned to Him and His Son, reaching out in repentance for forgiveness for our sin and wickedness. And now, as His children, we are in a privileged position, having seen a glimpse of Jesus and His love and compassion, which will follow us all the days of our lives. 

But I cannot finish this morning without returning to Isaiah 6. In the Temple, Isaiah saw the Lord “high and lifted up”, a vision so real and meaningful that he could not fail to respond positively to the Lord’s question, “Who shall I send? And who will go for us?” with a response that totally transformed his life, as the words fell from his lips, “Here am I. Send me”. Is that our pilgrim position today? I hope so, because time is short and many lost souls are heading to the wrong place. 

Dear Father God. Many years later, we, too, answer the call with our own response: “Send me.” Guide us to the right mission field, we pray. In Jesus’ name. Amen. 

No Perishing

Posted on by Adrian Clark

“My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them away from me, for my Father has given them to me, and he is more powerful than anyone else. No one can snatch them from the Father’s hand. The Father and I are one.”
John 10:27-30 NLT

In our journey through the Gospel of John, the picture is emerging of a caring Jesus, compassionate and loving, looking out for His followers, who are those who believe in Him. He feeds them spiritual water (John 7:37-38, “On the last day, the climax of the festival, Jesus stood and shouted to the crowds, “Anyone who is thirsty may come to me! Anyone who believes in me may come and drink! For the Scriptures declare, ‘Rivers of living water will flow from his heart’”). He feeds them spiritual food (John 6:35, “Jesus replied, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry again. Whoever believes in me will never be thirsty”). He protects them (John 10:11, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd sacrifices his life for the sheep”). He brings light and life (John 8:12, “Jesus spoke to the people once more and said, “I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life””). In fact His followers will enjoy abundant life (John 10:10, “The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life”). What is there not to like about Jesus, because all that he promised His followers two thousand years ago is still available to His 21st Century believers? 

But perhaps the most notable promise that Jesus made was His gift of eternal life. Jesus loves His followers so much that He wants to spend eternity with them. “They will never perish” He said. And this offer was not just restricted to His people, the Jews. He also included all the non-Jews, the Gentiles, in His offer of protection and eternal life (John 10:16, “I have other sheep, too, that are not in this sheepfold. I must bring them also. They will listen to my voice, and there will be one flock with one shepherd). 

But what is this eternal life with its promise that we will never perish? The Bible tells us that when we die, our physical bodies will be of no further use and can be discarded. But our spirits live on in a place variously called Sheol, or Hades, or Heaven. There seems to be some compartmentalisation in place, because, as Jesus promised the dying thief next to Him, there is a place called Paradise. So it is not unreasonable to assume that Jesus’ followers, those that believe in Him, will join Him there. Perhaps that is Heaven. We should note that Hell doesn’t exist at the moment, only coming into effect when its first inhabitants, the Beast and False Prophet, are thrown there (Revelation 19:20, “And the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who did mighty miracles on behalf of the beast—miracles that deceived all who had accepted the mark of the beast and who worshiped his statue. Both the beast and his false prophet were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulphur”). But there is no confusion or alternative, the spirits of all who have ever lived either end up in Heaven or Hades. There is of course then the Great White Throne judgement in Revelation 20, followed by the population of Hell. Hades ends up in hell as well (Revelation 20:14, “Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death”). 

Thankfully, we pilgrims, believers in Jesus, will not have to face the terror of the Great White Throne because our names will be written in the Lamb’s Book of Life. We will never perish and end up in the company of totally evil beings.

Jesus brought a message of hope to a world floundering and dying in its sin. Evil still prevails, but Jesus promised us that we will “never perish”. As we persevere through this life, illuminating our passage with our testimonies of God’s saving grace, we will one day achieve our goal of eternal life through Jesus. What a Saviour!

Dear Father God. What a Saviour indeed. We praise and worship You today and every day. Amen.

Temporary Residents

Posted on by Adrian Clark

“Dear friends, I warn you as “temporary residents and foreigners” to keep away from worldly desires that wage war against your very souls.”
1 Peter 2:11 NLT

Peter warns his readers “to keep away from worldly desires”. But perhaps we think that this is easier said than done because we live on this world, Planet Earth. It’s a world corrupted by sin and wickedness; we only have to read a newspaper, or, more likely, go on-line and start reading what one of the news outlets provides, to find out how bad things really are. Social media seems to be burgeoning with negative stories, many of them heart-rending in their content. So, for us pilgrims, it is a difficult place to keep apart from, and especially if we ourselves are caught up in one of the negative stories personally. We find too that there are consequences to many of the decisions and actions that we make, driven perhaps by our “worldly desires”.

But Peter started this verse with a strange concept, that his readers were “temporary residents and foreigners”, presumably in this world. How can that be, because it was into this world that each of us was born. To answer that, we have to take a step back and consider two scenarios. Firstly, our natural lives will only span a finite number of years, as we read in Psalm 90:1a, “Seventy years are given to us! Some even live to eighty … ”. So in that respect we are “temporary residents”. Planet Earth was already here when we arrived and will probably still be here when we die. 

What was Peter meaning then when he said we were “foreigners” in this world? This is the second scenario and refers to that day when we pilgrims made a decision for Christ. A decision were we repented of our sins and believed in Jesus. We read in Acts 2:38, “Peter replied, “Each of you must repent of your sins and turn to God, and be baptised in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. Then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” Romans 10:9-10, “If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved”. That is the decision we call being born again. Jesus told Nicodemus about it in John 3:3, “Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God””. The consequences of this are as Paul wrote in Philippians 3:20, “But we are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives. And we are eagerly waiting for him to return as our Saviour”.

There came that point where we pilgrims acquired a new passport, and it says we are citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven. Instead of the cover saying “United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland”, or whatever your national passports say, our new passport says “Kingdom of Heaven” or “Kingdom of God”. We don’t however have a physical passport because this is a spiritual kingdom and God doesn’t need to issue one. Instead He has written our names in a Book, called the Lamb’s Book of Life. And the wonderful thing is that instead of only being valid for ten years, like the UK passport, it applies for all of eternity. We read about this book in Revelation 21:27, “Nothing evil will be allowed to enter, nor anyone who practices shameful idolatry and dishonesty—but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life”. 

So, we pilgrims are indeed “temporary residents and foreigners” in this world. One day we will have no need for a UK passport, or, indeed any other passport, and can fully and totally take up our citizenship in Heaven. But back to how we started. While we are “temporary residents and foreigners” we have been warned “to keep away from worldly desires that wage war against [our] very souls.” Sound advice from a man who knew as much as anyone the dangers and temptations in living a worldly life. In 1 John 4:4-6 we can read what the Apostle John wrote about worldly people. “But you belong to God, my dear children. You have already won a victory over those people, because the Spirit who lives in you is greater than the spirit who lives in the world. Those people belong to this world, so they speak from the world’s viewpoint, and the world listens to them. But we belong to God, and those who know God listen to us. If they do not belong to God, they do not listen to us. That is how we know if someone has the Spirit of truth or the spirit of deception.” Paul, the Apostle, wrote in Romans 8:37, and referring to the difficulties of living in the world, “No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us”. 

In God, and through the Holy Spirit who lives within us, we can live a life in the right Kingdom. It isn’t easy, and sometimes we will slip up. But our Heavenly Father is quick to forgive us for our sins, and we are free to move onwards and upwards into our calling in Christ.

Dear Father God. Thank You that You have recorded our names in Your Book of Life, sealing our Heavenly citizenship. What a wonderful gift! Amen.

The Holy City (5)

Posted on by Adrian Clark

“The nations will walk in its light, and the kings of the world will enter the city in all their glory. Its gates will never be closed at the end of day because there is no night there. And all the nations will bring their glory and honour into the city. Nothing evil will be allowed to enter, nor anyone who practices shameful idolatry and dishonesty—but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.”
Revelation‬ ‭21‬:‭24‬-‭27‬ NLT

In his vision John saw Jerusalem how it should have been, how God had planned it from the very beginning of time. A place of purity and holiness. A place providing all that was needed for post-old-world life. A place where God lived. In his vision, John saw nations living outside the city, nations ruled by kings, who came and went into the Holy City as they wanted, in all their finery. There was no need to shut the gates when it got dark, for two reasons. Firstly, God lived there and His light, His glory, meant that it never got dark. Secondly, in those days there will be no evil, so no-one would be sneaking into the city to commit a crime. 

John saw all the nations, those people living in Heaven, coming to the Holy City to lay down at God’s feet all their glory. We read about it in Isaiah 60. Here’s a couple of verses, “All nations will come to your light; mighty kings will come to see your radiance. ..… They will honour the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, for he has filled you with splendour.” (‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭60‬:‭3,‭9b ‭NLT). And we read earlier in Revelation 4 and 5 about the worship that will be happening in Heaven. The Holy City will be filled with wonderful new songs, honouring God, worshipping Him, glorifying Him. 

When we pilgrims come to the foot of God’s throne, we come to give Him our glory and honour. The world system, and those who live in it, love to be honoured. There are those who receive medals or titles in the British New year honours list, philanthropists rewarded for their charitable works. There are those who are rewarded with a promotion or a pay rise at work, in recognition of their outstanding service. A pensioner might receive a clock, or something similar, to commemorate his many years working for the company. An athlete might receive a medal or engraved cup for winning a race or tournament. But, as today’s verses imply, when one day we enter the Holy City, all our previous honours, and the associated glory, will be laid at His feet, all worthless when compared to His glory.

John finishes recording what he was seeing with a reminder that there will be nothing evil allowed into the Holy City, the new Jerusalem. In fact, there will be nothing evil allowed in Heaven. The Lamb’s Book of Life was the decider. If a name wasn’t there, then that person wouldn’t be in Heaven either. There was another home prepared for them.

Once again, we pilgrims look on and marvel. The Holy City, Heaven, God and Jesus, all there waiting for us to join them. We have decided to follow Jesus, as it says in the words of the old song. We won’t be disappointed with what we will find in Heaven. 

Dear Father. We give You all the honour, all the glory, today. Amen.