Lesson 223 - Junior
Memory Verse
"Who hath believed our reports and to whom hath the arm of the Lord been revealed?" (John 12:38).
Notes
The Vision of Isaiah
The Prophet Isaiah, who lived more than 700 years before Jesus was born, loved God and served Him faithfully. One day while he was worshiping in the Temple, something happened to him more wonderful than anything he had ever known before. He saw a vision of the Lord sitting on His throne! He also saw angels standing above the throne, and they were singing, "Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory" (Isaiah 6:3). (This suggests to us praise to God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost.) The doorposts trembled at the sound of the Heavenly chorus, and smoke filled the Temple of the Lord.
How Isaiah's heart burned within him to tell someone what he had seen! He felt he was not worthy to stand before the holy God, but his heart yearned to encourage the Children of Israel to worship the only true God and enjoy His fellowship. That day he learned that there was something he could do.
Isaiah's Sanctification
There, in the midst of the glory that shone from the throne of God Isaiah was sanctified; and he was commis-sioned to go to preach to the Children of Israel. God warned him that it would be a hard ministry, for the people would not want to listen to him; they would not believe what he told them about the holiness of God and the rewards for the faithful. Such people are spiritually deaf and blind.
No Sight nor Hearing
When Jesus was on earth, performing miracles of healing, raising the dead, bringing peace to the troubled ones, He found the same kind of people to whom Isaiah had preached. They had eyes to see, but they did not want to see the things that were worth while; they had ears to hear, but they did not want to understand the most important thing in life.
In Isaiah's ministry he had cried out, "Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed?" (Isaiah 53:1). He went on to describe Jesus and the things He would have to suffer to redeem the world. God showed Isaiah exactly what would happen to Jesus seven hundred years later.
In the text Of today's lesson those prophecies were being fulfilled, Jesus had been kind to people: He had bound up the broken hearts, He had healed sick bodies. He had done things among them that no one else had done. But in spite of all His miracles, Jesus was "despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief" (Isaiah 53:3), Just as Isaiah had said He would be. The many people who had not believed the words Of Jesus were spiritually blind and deaf.
The Arm of God
To whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? Who has seen the power of Jesus, and enjoyed His blessings? Those who believed the report, believed what Jesus preached.
You remember the story about the woman who had been ill for 12 years and had spent all her money on doctors, and yet was not well.She believed that Jesus would heal her if she could only touch His robe. Because she believed, she was healed. That was the arm of the Lord revealed to her.
We read about the centurion whose son was about to die. He believed thatif Jesus would only speak the word, his son would be made well. That faith in the words of Jesus brought the healing, and the centurion saw the arm of the Lord revealed.
There had been so many miracles like that, that John wrote in his Gospel, "If they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not"contain the books that should be written" (John 21:25). That many things done by Jesus should have made everyone a believer. But John wrote, "Yet they believed not on him."
When people did not believe, Jesus would not work. Around His home town of Nazareth the people believed not. "And he did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief" (Matthew 13:58).
Who sees the arm of the Lord revealed today? Is it not those who believe the words that Jesus spoke? Jesus said, "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest" (Matthew 11:28). Anyone who believes from the heart and repents of his sins, finds that rest. It is just as sure and certain today as when Jesus walked on earth. He reveals Himself to those who believe.
The Sick Healed
Jesus healed the sick; and in the Book of James we read: "Is any among you afflicted? let him pray. . . . Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: and the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up" (James 5:13"15). The people who believe are the ones who are being healed in answer to prayer. They havebelieved the report and they are seeing the arm of the Lord revealed.
When Jesus was about to leave this world, He sent His disciples to preach in all the world, and He said, "These signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; . . . they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover" (Mark 16:17, 18). These signs shall follow those who believe.
Faith
Without faith it is impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6). How can Jesus work for us if we do not believe that He will? But if we please the Lord by believing what He says, He will do wonderful things for us. How can you expect God to give you what you ask if you think of Him and pray to Him only when you are in need, and forget Him the rest of the time? The Lord rejoices in our prayers of thanksgiving and love to Him. He wants us to tell Him that we love Him, and then to live to prove that we do. We must make His service the most important thing in our life.
Our time on earth should be spent in preparing for Heaven and in helping others to be ready to meet Jesus. The few short years we live here cannot be compared with the length of eternity. It has been said: "Our time here is the only time we have to make Heaven sure. It is most precious thing that ever we have in the world. Now if a man have such a precious thing, and but little of it, will he go and spend it for toys and baubles?"
If we really believe what Jesus has told us about Heaven and the glory that we shall enjoy there with Him, the things of this world will be very unimportant to us. We will be good citizens, and deal honestly and kindly with others, but the burden of our heart will be to win souls for Jesus. We want to see Jesus come and make this world a holy place in which to live.
The Praise of Men
Some of the rulers of the synagogues did believe In Jesus, but they were afraid to say so. They were admired for their high office in the church, and they loved the praise of men. They thought that if they followed Jesus they would be hated as He was. We can see that they were not thinking about the importance of being ready to go to Heaven. What their friends thought about them mattered more to them than what God thought. Rather than suffer a little persecution here for a few days, and then enjoy the glories of God throughout all eternity, they were willing to risk their fate for a short time of worldly honour in this lifetime.
There was another class of people who believed in God, but who did not believe that Jesus was His Son. Jesus tried to show them that all the words He spoke were right from the Father. He had not made up any doctrine of His own. He wanted them to know that if they believed His teachings, they believed the commandments of God -- they were just the same, and would stand forever. The words which Jesus spoke -- God's words -- will judge every man in the last day.
To those who believe, the words of Jesus become eternal life. We can trust the promises of God to be fulfilled in us if we do our part. He will take care of His children and bring them safe into the Glory Land if they obey His teachings.
Questions
- What did Isaiah see in the Temple?
- What did it make him want to do?
- How did God make Isaiah ready for service?
- What kind of people did Isaiah and Jesus have to preach to?
- Who enjoyed the blessings of Christ's miracles?
- What will we gain by obeying the words of Jesus?
- What is the difference between the length of our time on earth and in eternity?
- How can we be sure of being ready to meet Jesus?