Isaiah 65:13-66:4
What a contrast there is between those who belong to Christ - ‘My servants will sing out of the joy of their hearts’- and those who have refused to come to Christ for salvation - ‘You will cry out from anguish of heart and wail in brokenness of spirit’(14)! God is preparing a great future ‘for those who love Him’- ‘I will create a new heaven and a new earth’. He is calling us away from our sins - ‘Past things will not be remembered. They will not come to mind’. He is calling us to His ‘holy mountain’. How can we enter into our full enjoyment of God’s eternal salvation? God’s Word tells us: ‘I will pay attention to those who are humble and sorry for their sins and who tremble at My Word’(65:17,25; 66:2; 1 Corinthians 2:9). Make sure that you belong to Christ. Put your faith in Him (John 3:18,36).
Isaiah 66:5-24
‘Hear the Word of the Lord’. How are we to listen to God’s Word? We are to ‘tremble at His Word’. We are to ‘drink deeply with delight’(5,10-11). There is to be the fear of the Lord. There is to be joy in the Lord. These are not opposites. They belong together - ‘Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling... Rejoice in the Lord’(Philippians 2:12; 3:1). We hear God’s warning, and we ‘tremble’. To those who ‘sin deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth’, God says this: ‘It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God’(Hebrews 10:26,31). We hear God’s promise, and we ‘rejoice’: ‘The eternal God is your dwelling place, and underneath are the everlasting arms’(Deuteronomy 33:27). Let us ‘hear the Word of the Lord’- the warning as well as the promise!
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Blessings in Christ
Christ in all the Scriptures
http://christinallthescriptures.blogspot.com
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