Date: Saturday July 21, 2012
Today's Chapters: Isaiah 1-4
Message Title: Worshiping God

Hello My Friend,

God rejoices in our spending time with Him, I told my Sunday school class that God gets so excited when we wake up in the morning because He gets to spend some time with us. No matter how awful we are at praying, singing, asking forgiveness, or reading our Bibles, as long as we do the best we can He finds joy in our attempts to worship Him. “But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.” - John 4:23,24.

The Book of Isaiah is the twenty-third book of the Old Testament/Bible and contains sixty-six chapters. The author of the book is Isaiah and it was written to Judah and all believers. The timeline of these events took place approximately 766 BC to 679 BC. The purpose of the book was for correction and reproof of believers. What we are to learn from the book is that rebellion leads to destruction, but repentance leads to restoration. “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” - Isaiah 1:18. The Book of Isaiah is actually a mirror of the entire Bible. The Bible has 66 books, Isaiah has 66 chapters. The Old Testament has 39 books covering the history and sin of Israel, the first 39 chapters of Isiah cover the same subject. The New Testament has 27 books describing the ministry of Jesus Christ, including the new heaven and earth, the last 27 chapters of Isaiah describe the same.

The book of Isaiah begins with God lamenting over the miserable state of His beloved nation. “Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are corrupters: they have forsaken the LORD, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger, they are gone away backward. Why should ye be stricken any more? ye will revolt more and more: the whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint. From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it; but wounds, and bruises, and putrifying sores: they have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment. Your country is desolate, your cities are burned with fire: your land, strangers devour it in your presence, and it is desolate, as overthrown by strangers.” - Isaiah 1:4-7.

All throughout the Old Testament we learn of the Israelites falling in and out of corruption, getting themselves into trouble, seeking God's help only to go right back to the wicked things they were doing. This time, God is done with all the vain sacrifices, they were now an abomination to Him. He begins to reject their corrupt sacrifices and vain worshiping of Him. “To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? saith the LORD: I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he goats. When ye come to appear before me, who hath required this at your hand, to tread my courts? Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto me; the new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with; it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting. Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hateth: they are a trouble unto me; I am weary to bear them.” - Isaiah 1:11-14.

God will forgive us a million times if we are truly trying, he knows our hearts and what we are really doing and will not be mocked, but He is gracious and merciful, He gives all a chance to repent several times before He places judgment upon them. “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land: But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.” - Isaiah 1:18-20.

With the countless amounts of people that worship God, many do it in vain because they are worshiping Him in their false religions. God does not accept any offerings from us unless we are saved, which is to receive Jesus Christ as our Savior. God gives Isaiah a glimpse of Christ, who will judge every one of us. “And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the LORD'S house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it. And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. Enter into the rock, and hide thee in the dust, for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of his majesty. The lofty looks of man shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, and the LORD alone shall be exalted in that day.” - Isaiah 2:2,3,10,11.

One day every nation will come together as one nation under the Kingdom of Christ, not one person will escape Jesus' sight, we all have to stand before Him for judgment. However, there is hope for the saved, “And it shall come to pass, that he that is left in Zion, and he that remaineth in Jerusalem, shall be called holy, even every one that is written among the living in Jerusalem: When the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and shall have purged the blood of Jerusalem from the midst thereof by the spirit of judgment, and by the spirit of burning. And the LORD will create upon every dwelling place of mount Zion, and upon her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day, and the shining of a flaming fire by night: for upon all the glory shall be a defence.” - Isaiah 4:3-5.

When we receive Jesus Christ as our Savior we are under His watch and protection, we will never be burned in the lake of fire, but we are accountable for our actions while we are here. People who worship God in vain suffer deeply until they repent. “Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die: for I have not found thy works perfect before God. Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee. He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels. Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name.” - Revelation 3:2,3,5,12.

Today's Prayer: God, Thank you for sending Your Son Jesus to make the atonement for our sins a permanent one. We no longer have to seek atonement continuously because we are redeemed by applying the precious blood of Your Son upon our souls. Our redemption does not give us a free pass to live in corruption and not suffer for it. Lord, lead us and guide us, help us to seek Your truths and live by them so we do not have to face Jesus with nothing to be thankful for what He has done for us. In Jesus' name. Amen.

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