Hello, my ‘Walking with Jesus’ friends,
Have you ever been accused of something you did not do? How did you defend yourself? Did anyone come to your defense and was their intervention sufficient to dispel the false accusation against you?
Over the past several days we’ve been working our way through some of the prophet Isaiah’s very powerful messages. As we know these were messages Isaiah received from God and then delivered to the kings, leaders and people of Israel during dark times in Israel’s history. Often Isaiah was NOT respected as he delivered God’s messages, sometimes he was punished, persecuted, even tortured for the messages he brought.
But Isaiah had one very significant advantage when being accused or rejected. Do you know what his advantage was? It is similar to the advantage genuine followers of Jesus Christ have today. Isaiah wrote it this way: “He who vindicates me is near. Who then will bring charges against me? Let us face each other! Who is my accuser? Let him confront me! It is the Sovereign LORD who helps me. Who will condemn me?“ (Is. 50:7,8)
Do you hear Isaiah’s confidence and boldness? He is declaring that he is not afraid BECAUSE the Almighty God, the Creator of the Universe, the God who humbled Egypt’s Pharaoh and drowned Egypt’s army in the Red Sea, is the God who stands with Isaiah. He is the God who gave Isaiah His messages and his courage!
Now friends, do Isaiah’s words sound familiar to you? In the first century there was another prophet of God speaking God’s radical messages to Jews and Gentiles living in the Roman empire. Like Isaiah this man found himself maligned, imprisoned, persecuted often and rejected by religious and political leaders continually. Do you remember his name?
In his letter to the Christians in Rome the Spirit of God led this man to write these words: “If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all – how will He not also, along with Him, give us all things? Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who then is the one who condemns?” (Romans 8:31-34) Do you recognize the words? This is the apostle Paul, and his bold words sound amazingly similar to the prophet Isaiah, yet 750 years of time separate them!
Why? Well, it’s really quite simple, isn’t it?
BOTH men were men living in amazing, Spirit empowered relationships with God. That relationship not only encouraged them when they faced fearful or discouraging times, it empowered them to stand boldly, courageously declaring the full truths God gave them to declare, even if those messages were not welcomed by either the political or religious power people of their day. They both had a strong conviction God had called them to be His spokesmen, and God gave them the messages they were to declare. In fact, they both felt they would be cowardly and disobedient if they did NOT speak and write the messages God gave them.
And WHY did they both write these confident almost defiant words? Because both were rejected by popular opinion, both were persecuted, publicly maligned, arrested, imprisoned without representation, beaten. And what crime had they committed… none! They had simply spoken the TRUTH God had given them to speak!
Now Isaiah and Paul are of course not the only two men who have said these or very similar words. They are not the only men to have experienced humiliation or rejection or persecution. This has been happening since the days of Noah! It’s happening today in your country and mine.
WHY? Jesus Christ, God incarnate, who experienced the very same rejection, warned His friends this would happen to ANYONE who courageously follows Jesus and speaks God’s truth into their world! Jesus said: “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated ME first! If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world… If they persecute ME they will persecute YOU also…They will treat you this way because of My name, for they do not know the One who sent Me… Whoever hates Me hates My Father as well…” (John 15:18-25)
Is it really possible my friends? If God, the Creator of the world, the sustainer of every life came and lived here on the planet He created, among the human race He created, is it really possible humanity would reject God, would persecute God, would even try to KILL God??
Yes, of course, that is the story of Jesus, isn’t it? John the disciple friend of Jesus describes it this way: “The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. He was in the world, and though the world was made through Him, the world did not recognize Him. He came to that which was His own, but His own did not receive Him! Yet to all who did receive Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave them the right to become children of God – children not born of natural descent, nor of a husband’s will, but born of God! The WORD became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the One and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:9-14)
Now my friends we need to pause and reflect on the reality of the world you and I live in and the challenge we face every day to live God honoring lives in the face of ridicule, rejection, humiliation, even persecution. Is your relationship with Almighty God strong enough that you can live courageously, counter to the ever-darkening culture in which you live? Are Isaiah’s words and Paul’s words our bold declaration?
Let’s talk with God about that, realizing the pressure you and I face tomorrow may be greater than anything we’ve ever yet faced! Here’s a worship song to help us gain strength!
Today’s Scriptures: Is. 50:7-9; John 15:9-25.
Choose below to read or listen.
Is. 50:7-9
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John 15:9-25
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Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.
Have a comment or question about today’s chapter? I’m ready to hear from you, contact me here.
Pastor Doug Anderson
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
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