King James Bible Study – [And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. – Mark 8:34]
Date: Monday, July 29, 2024
Chapters: Isaiah Chapters 49-53
Message: Christ’s Life For Mine
Hello My Friend,
The older you get the more precious life becomes to you, not only your own, but those around you. It grieves me when family does not get along and friendships are lost over the pettiest of things, but we are told that these things would happen. Jesus, Himself said, [Matthew 10:35-39 For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law. 36 And a man’s foes shall be they of his own household. 37 He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. 38 And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me. 39 He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.]
The longer I walk with Jesus and discover just how much pride, envy, jealousy, and greed plays a part in what often divides family the more I understand what Jesus meant when He said this. It is not as though He wants us to fight with family, but He does want us to understand that family can cause a lost soul to end up in hell. Think about it, parents who raise children in false religion or to believe that God does not exist actually hinder a soul from finding Christ. Suffering from friends and relations is very grievous, but all who live Godly in Christ will suffer persecution, however, they do have hope.
[Matthew 25:31-34 When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: 32 And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: 33 And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. 34 Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:]
Speaking of the foundation of the world, the more you read through the Book of Isaiah the more you discover that God had the same plan of salvation for all people, He just did things a little differently for His true believers before He sent His Son. And you will also learn that it is actually Jesus speaking through much of it. As we continue in the reading of Isaiah, Jesus, is the one speaking through these chapters as He reveals how and why His Father sent Him, and this message was not only addressed to Israel.
[Isaiah 49:1-4 Listen, O isles, unto me; and hearken, ye people, from far; The LORD hath called me from the womb; from the bowels of my mother hath he made mention of my name. 2 And he hath made my mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of his hand hath he hid me, and made me a polished shaft; in his quiver hath he hid me; 3 And said unto me, Thou art my servant, O Israel, in whom I will be glorified. 4 Then I said, I have laboured in vain, I have spent my strength for nought, and in vain: yet surely my judgment is with the LORD, and my work with my God.]
[he hath made my mouth like a sharp sword;] The Word of God is like a two edged sword, it cuts deep, which is why so many reject Him, but that is all that Jesus is going to speak to bring judgment, [Revelation 1:16-18 And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth went a sharp twoedged sword: and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength. 17 And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last: 18 I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.]
[I have laboured in vain, I have spent my strength for nought,] I just realized that this is referring to when Jesus was praying before His passion, [Matthew 26:39 And he went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.]
Even though Jesus never sinned and knew what He had to do to save mankind that still did not take away His human side in the hopes that some other way could have been met to avoid the pain He was about to endure. There are so many religions who make light of Jesus coming here in the flesh through the virgin Mary, some even worship her. We must come to understand why God sent Jesus in the flesh by immaculate conception, and that He did not choose her because she never sinned. She was just like the rest of us sinners, but God saw something in her just like Abraham, Moses, and David when He chose her to bring His only begotten Son into the world. Through Isaiah, we learn of why He was sent to begin with.
[Isaiah 49:5-7 And now, saith the LORD that formed me from the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob again to him, Though Israel be not gathered, yet shall I be glorious in the eyes of the LORD, and my God shall be my strength. 6 And he said, It is a light thing that thou shouldest be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel: I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth. 7 Thus saith the LORD, the Redeemer of Israel, and his Holy One, to him whom man despiseth, to him whom the nation abhorreth, to a servant of rulers, Kings shall see and arise, princes also shall worship, because of the LORD that is faithful, and the Holy One of Israel, and he shall choose thee.]
[to bring Jacob again to him…a light to the Gentiles,] Gentiles are referred to anyone who is not of the descendants of Jacob, it would be the very people who God had chosen to bring His Son into the world who would despise and reject Him and that would lead the Gentiles to Him. However, if you read through the Old Testament you will discover that there were many Gentiles grafted into the lineage including Rehab and Ruth well before this happened, [Hebrews 11:31-32,39-40 By faith the harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed not, when she had received the spies with peace. 32 And what shall I more say? for the time would fail me to tell of Gedeon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthae; of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets: 39 And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise: 40 God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.]
It was never God’s intention to have one family be saved, He wants all to be saved, He just used Jacob for a witness. Now, as we continue, some of this is actually God Himself speaking, He lets the children of Jacob know that He has not given up on them.
[Isaiah 49:8,13-16 Thus saith the LORD, In an acceptable time have I heard thee, and in a day of salvation have I helped thee: and I will preserve thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, to establish the earth, to cause to inherit the desolate heritages; 13 Sing, O heavens; and be joyful, O earth; and break forth into singing, O mountains: for the LORD hath comforted his people, and will have mercy upon his afflicted. 14 But Zion said, The LORD hath forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me. 15 Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee. 16 Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me.]
[I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands;] None of us are worthy, except for Jesus, to serve God and receive His blessings because even on a good day, we fail Him. Nevertheless, He made a promise that no one could ever pluck us from His hand, and He holds to that promise, [John 10:28-29 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. 29 My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.]
Even if we walked away from Jesus and got caught up in a mountain of sin, Jesus never forgets the promise He made to save our soul. As long as we did not believe in vain we cannot lose our salvation, but if it was in vain we never had it in the first place. Jesus does not save us based on our obedience to Him, it is purely by grace through our faith in Him because we are trusting in Him alone. The day will come when He will gather all His people to save them from the destruction to come. Through Isaiah, He goes on to tell His believers how they will come from all over the world.
[Isaiah 49:18-20 Lift up thine eyes round about, and behold: all these gather themselves together, and come to thee. As I live, saith the LORD, thou shalt surely clothe thee with them all, as with an ornament, and bind them on thee, as a bride doeth. 19 For thy waste and thy desolate places, and the land of thy destruction, shall even now be too narrow by reason of the inhabitants, and they that swallowed thee up shall be far away. 20 The children which thou shalt have, after thou hast lost the other, shall say again in thine ears, The place is too strait for me: give place to me that I may dwell.]
[thou shalt surely clothe thee…with an ornament..as a bride doeth.] It is the sinless blood that Christ shed on the cross that not only covers the sinner who comes to Him, but also makes them one with His bride, who is the Church, [Revelation 21:2-3 And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.]
Now, to the backsliders who lost their way, and to the lost who have yet to find their way, there is hope in Christ. God, promises that once we come to Him through His Son, then we are His forever so, why do so many Christians live as though He is no where to be found? Well, their sin has drawn them away from Him. Those who continuously live in sin and refuse to repent will suffer so much more than what we will ever suffer from life’s afflictions, and only have themselves to blame as to why God has stepped back and will not intervene until they repent. In a sense He is waiting for the divorce papers.
[Isaiah 50:1-3 Thus saith the LORD, Where is the bill of your mother’s divorcement, whom I have put away? or which of my creditors is it to whom I have sold you? Behold, for your iniquities have ye sold yourselves, and for your transgressions is your mother put away. 2 Wherefore, when I came, was there no man? when I called, was there none to answer? Is my hand shortened at all, that it cannot redeem? or have I no power to deliver? behold, at my rebuke I dry up the sea, I make the rivers a wilderness: their fish stinketh, because there is no water, and dieth for thirst. 3 I clothe the heavens with blackness, and I make sackcloth their covering.]
[Where is the bill of your mother’s divorcement,] This is directed to the Jews, when God sent them to Babylon, by whom God here refers to as children to a mother. They turned from God and gave themselves to idols, therefore, God could not stand to look at them and sent them away from seventy years according to the Law, [Deuteronomy 24:1 When a man hath taken a wife, and married her, and it come to pass that she find no favour in his eyes, because he hath found some uncleanness in her: then let him write her a bill of divorcement, and give it in her hand, and send her out of his house.]
Through Isaiah, Jesus, reveals more of what will happen to Him, speaking of the humiliation He will face leading up to His crucifixion, but He also mentions how sinful we are, and why we cannot save ourselves. Needless to say, it is a good thing that they are saved by grace and not their own works. And if they would just get it in their heads and hearts of what Jesus went through to save them, then perhaps they would not keep hanging Him on that cross every time. In fact, they would be down right humiliated by the way they have been acting if they truly understood that.
[Isaiah 50:5-7,10 The Lord GOD hath opened mine ear, and I was not rebellious, neither turned away back. 6 I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair: I hid not my face from shame and spitting. 7 For the Lord GOD will help me; therefore shall I not be confounded: therefore have I set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be ashamed. 10 Who is among you that feareth the LORD, that obeyeth the voice of his servant, that walketh in darkness, and hath no light? let him trust in the name of the LORD, and stay upon his God.]
[let him trust in the name of the LORD,] Due to our own transgressions, we owe a debt that we can never pay for our redemption on our own. Even if we could afford to pay for every sin we ever committed, we still would never be able to pay it off because we never stop sinning. And that is where Jesus comes in at, those who trust in the name of the LORD will be saved, [Romans 3:23-26 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; 24 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: 25 Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; 26 To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.]
While animal sacrifices were a way for a person to be atoned for their sins, it was not permanent, every time they sinned they would have to bring another offering. What Jesus would do by offering Himself as the sacrifice would not only atone for our sin, it would pay the debt owed, and remove the need for any other sacrifice. Jesus, goes on to explain how His righteous will save them.
[Isaiah 51:1-2,4-5,7 Hearken to me, ye that follow after righteousness, ye that seek the LORD: look unto the rock whence ye are hewn, and to the hole of the pit whence ye are digged. 2 Look unto Abraham your father, and unto Sarah that bare you: for I called him alone, and blessed him, and increased him. 4 Hearken unto me, my people; and give ear unto me, O my nation: for a law shall proceed from me, and I will make my judgment to rest for a light of the people. 5 My righteousness is near; my salvation is gone forth, and mine arms shall judge the people; the isles shall wait upon me, and on mine arm shall they trust. 7 Hearken unto me, ye that know righteousness, the people in whose heart is my law; fear ye not the reproach of men, neither be ye afraid of their revilings.]
[Abraham your father, and unto Sarah that bare you:] The nation of Israel was called into being by a miracle of God, who gave to Abraham and Sarah the son of promise. They were the ancestors of the Jewish people and, in a wider sense, the spiritual Israel, of whom we all believer are heirs to, [Galatians 3:6-7,13-14 Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness. 7 Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham. 13 Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree: 14 That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.]
[and my righteousness shall not be abolished.] Animal sacrifices were a way for a person to be atoned for their sins, but it was not permanent, everytime they sinned they would have to bring another offering. What Jesus would do by offering Himself as the sacrifice would not only atone for our sin, it would pay the debt owed, and remove the need for any other sacrifice, [Hebrews 10:4-6,12,14 For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins. 5 Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me: 6 In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure. 12 But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God; 14 For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified.]
Do you see how, by His sinless death, Jesus made salvation permanent? Not for righteousness that we have done, but by His righteousness we are saved. Amen! When we put our faith and trust in Christ alone to save us, then our salvation is forever. And through Isaiah, Jesus goes on to explain this further.
[Isaiah 52:7-12 How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth! 8 Thy watchmen shall lift up the voice; with the voice together shall they sing: for they shall see eye to eye, when the LORD shall bring again Zion. 9 Break forth into joy, sing together, ye waste places of Jerusalem: for the LORD hath comforted his people, he hath redeemed Jerusalem. 10 The LORD hath made bare his holy arm in the eyes of all the nations; and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God. 11 Depart ye, depart ye, go ye out from thence, touch no unclean thing; go ye out of the midst of her; be ye clean, that bear the vessels of the LORD. 12 For ye shall not go out with haste, nor go by flight: for the LORD will go before you; and the God of Israel will be your rereward.]
[that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation;] Through our iniquities we have sold ourselves to the creditor, Satan himself, and for nothing, because all he will do is take us to hell with him. By Jesus sacrificing His sinless body, He paid that debt for us, and we never have to pay it back. Amen!, [1 Corinthians 7:23-24 Ye are bought with a price; be not ye the servants of men. 24 Brethren, let every man, wherein he is called, therein abide with God.]
We have been washed clean with His blood, removed of our sin stain filled garments, and put on the new clothes of Christ’s righteousness that He has given us without one single payment. Amen! Now, we get a little more insight into what Jesus looked like, the life He would live, how man would see Him, His crucifixion, and the amazing purpose behind it.
[Isaiah 53:1-5 Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed? 2 For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. 3 He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. 4 Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. 5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.]
[and with his stripes we are healed.] Jesus, did not just endure all that pain for the Jews, He did it for all. When Jesus hung on that cross He bore every single sin of every single soul upon His body, it was covered with so much sin that God had to turn His face as to not look at him, [2 Corinthians 5:21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.] His sacrifice, once and for all, satisfied God’s requirement needed to redeem a soul bound for hell permanently because of the debt that could never be paid, even if we gave ourselves as a sacrifice. And this goes all the way back to the first sin committed by Adam and Eve.
[1 Peter 2:21-25 For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps: 22 Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth: 23 Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously: 24 Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed. 25 For ye were as sheep going astray; but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls.]
Jesus Christ Revealed/Magnified: [Isaiah 49:6 And he said, It is a light thing that thou shouldest be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel: I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth. Isaiah 49:26 And I will feed them that oppress thee with their own flesh; and they shall be drunken with their own blood, as with sweet wine: and all flesh shall know that I the LORD am thy Saviour and thy Redeemer, the mighty One of Jacob. Isaiah 50:6 I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair: I hid not my face from shame and spitting. Isaiah 51:5 My righteousness is near; my salvation is gone forth, and mine arms shall judge the people; the isles shall wait upon me, and on mine arm shall they trust. Isaiah 53:5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.]
Today’s Prayer: Jesus, As much as I thank You for saving my soul from death and hell the second I trusted You as my Saviour, I still do not comprehend all that You have done for me. It is so overwhelming that You died for me to save me from something I deserve. Thank You, Jesus. I know there is nothing I can do to repay You, but I love You, and want to give honor to You by giving myself to You as the Bishop of my soul. You are my Lord and Saviour, the ROCK upon which I stand, there is no other, and I am glad that there is no other because You are all I need. Lord, Give me Your power, strength, mercy, and grace to endure all the trials, challenges, and afflictions I face as I seek to serve You as a living sacrifice. I ask these things in Your name, Jesus. Amen.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
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