Lesson 352 - Senior
Memory Verse
"This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations: and then shall the end come" (Matthew 24:14).
Cross References
I The Mission of Christ's Forerunner
1. A message of comfort, written in the prophetic future, was sent to Israel, [ISA:40:1-2].
2. John the Baptist was to come as the Lord's forerunner, or herald, [ISA:40:3]; [MAL:3:1]; [MAT:3:1-3]; [MAK:1:1-3]; [LUK:1:13-17]; [JHN:1:19-30].
3. John's coming was to introduce the new dispensation of the Gospel, [ISA:40:4-8]; [MAT:3:5-12]; [MAT:11:2-15]; [MAK:1:4-8]; [LUK:1:57-80]; [LUK:3:7-18]; [JHN:1:30-37].
II The Gospel Dispensation and Its Culmination
1. This transitory life makes the spreading of the Gospel message imperative, [ISA:40:6-8]; [1PE:1:24-25].
2. God's instrument for the promulgation of the Gospel -" the Church -" must be zealously occupied in the work, [ISA:40:9-11]; [ISA:52:7-10]; [JHN:4:35]; [ACT:1:8]; [1CO:9:19-22]; [JAM:5:20]; [JUD:1:23].
3. The omnipotence of God and the insignificance of man is shown, [ISA:40:12-17]; [ISA:43:13]; [REV:19:6]; [1CH:29:12]; [JOB:26:12]; [PS:115:3]; [MAT:19:26].
4. Man's idolatry and pride are brought to nought, [ISA:40:18-24]; [DAN:4:37]; [1SM:5:1-12].
5. The glory of God and the Christian's hope are stated, [ISA:40:25-31]; [PS:19:1-14]; [PS:89:6]; [PS:73:25].
Notes
Isaiah's beautiful and powerful messages are sometimes addressed directly to the wayward Israelites, and at other times they are heralded to all the world. Since upon the authority of the inspired Word, we know that the opening of the 40th chapter is a prophecy of the coming of John the Baptist, we may safely say that the remainder of the chapter is one of the beautiful messages preached to all nations, proclaiming the Gospel and the coming Messiah for whom John was sent to prepare the way.
The Message of Comfort
This 40th chapter of Isaiah is opened with a message of comfort to Jerusalem and to the Jews, conditioned, of course, upon their reception of Jesus Christ as their Messiah; but the world knows that the Jews as a whole refused the Son of God when He came to earth. Refused by the Jews, the message of comfort, the Gospel, was directed especially to the Gentiles, resulting in millions of souls being born into the Kingdom of Christ, receiving the comfort, of sins forgiven and power to live above sin in this life with the hope of eternal life in the realm beyond the grave.
The time is coming, and no doubt very soon, when the Jews will see Jesus Christ revealed as He comes back to earth to set up His Throne to reign in righteousness and power for one thousand years. All the living Jews in that day will lay down their arms of rebellion and receive and welcome Jesus as their Messiah. In that day it can be truly said: "Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned: for she hath received of the LORD'S hand double for all her sins" [ISA:40:2]). The sufferings privations, and persecutions that the Jews have endured through the years could have been avoided, and God's comfort could have been theirs, had they but received Jesus Christ as their Messiah.
The same truth applies to the individual Gentile heart today. The word of God is either an instrument by which to obtain eternal life, or it will surely be an instrument of death to the soul. The man who refuses to serve Christ and obey the Word of God invites all sorts of troubles upon himself in this life, and, if he persists in his rebellion, he will receive eternal punishment in the lake of fire; whereas the man who freely serves Christ has the promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come. God's message of comfort is directed to the whole world, but it serves those only who will receive it.
Spirit and Power of Elijah
"Behold, I will sent you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD" [MAL:4:5]). Jesus, in speaking of this anticipation of the Jews, said: "I say unto you, That Elias is come already, and they knew him not, but have done unto him whatsoever they listed. Likewise shall also the Son of man suffer of them." Then the disciples understood that He spoke to them of John the Baptist [MAT:17:12-13]). The angel spoke prophetically of John: "He shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord" [LUK:1:17]).
Why necessarily the spirit and power of Elijah? Elijah was the representative prophet of the Old Testament, just as Moses was representative of the Law. John, coming in the spirit and power of the prophets' representative, fills an official place, closing up the period of the prophets, and stands on the threshold of the New Dispensation. "The law and the prophets were until John: since that time the kingdom of God is preached, and every man presseth into it" [LUK:16:16]).
John the Baptist was guided and directed by the same Spirit Elijah had, and their missions were somewhat the same -" to turn the hearts of the Children of Israel back to their God. Elijah prayed: "Hear me, O LORD, hear me, that this people may know that thou art the LORD God, and that thou hast turned their heart back again" [1KG:18:37]). The angel said of John the Baptist: "Many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God" [LUK:1:16]). Elijah and John the Baptist lived similar lives " solitary and in the wilderness, requiring none of the refinements of ordinary living and demanding little for physical sustenance. Both were fiery men with a burning message from God; both men stood before kings and rulers to denounce sin; and both men were persecuted as the result of their fearless proclamations. Jezebel threatened and tried to take the life of Elijah, while Herodias schemed until she finally secured the death of John the Baptist. So similar were the characteristics of Elijah and John the Baptist that the Jews sent priests and Levites to ask him if he were the Christ or Elias, but said that he was "the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord" [JHN:1:23]). Surely John the Baptist came in the power and spirit of Elijah.
No Respecter
God is no respecter of persons. Any man who is willing to pay the price can really do exploits for God in the Gospel. Dollars and cents in themselves will buy nothing of God's power or favour, for God requires consecrated lives through which He can work. Elijah and John the Baptist sold out self and their own desires, and they treasured God's gifts of righteousness, mercy, and power. Jesus said of John the Baptist: "What went ye out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken with the wind?" [MAT:11:7]). No, John was not a reed shaken with the wind, for John's Spirit-filled message was firm and absolute with nothing wavering. If John had wavered, the people would not have left their homes, work, and cities to come to the wilderness to hear his message. The people did come "- proof enough that if a preacher has enough of the Spirit of God upon his message, he will have an audience to hear him.
Jesus continued the question, "A man clothed in soft raiment?" No, those who wear soft clothing are more apt to be in a king's house, not labouring in the vineyard of the Lord's harvest. The Gospel demands that those who receive it must be willing to sacrifice. "If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him" ([1JN:2:15]). Jesus concluded the question, "A prophet? Yea, I say unto you, and more than a prophet. . . . Verily I say unto you, . . . there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist: notwithstanding he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he" [MAT:11:9], [MAT:11:11]). He that is least in the Kingdom of Heaven -" anyone who is truly saved through Jesus' Blood and living according to the Word of God -" is greater than John the Baptist. Thus Jesus pointed out the high calling and very responsible place that the true Christian holds in God's great and wonderful plan. Are we as Christians living up to God's expectations of us?
Urgency
The Spirit of the Lord, speaking through the mouth of the prophet, showed the uncertainty of life and the urgency of the Gospel message. Mankind is likened unto grass, and his life expectancy as the flower of the field. From the standpoint of eternity, the above statement is especially true. Without God's love and mercy to spare and protect the sons of men, none would live out their allotted days. It is imperative to proclaim the Gospel message with its promise of eternal life through the atonement made through Jesus' sacrificial death and triumphant resurrection.
God has a chosen instrument -" His redeemed people -" with which to spread the Gospel throughout the earth. The good news of salvation has rung in the hearts of men and has been proclaimed in many forms and ways from the day that Jesus ascended into Heaven. The first band of Christian believers way truly small, but their activity, power, and influence were soon felt throughout the nations. Today the cause of Christ is still of uttermost importance, not only to individual Christians but also to all the earth's two and a half billion inhabitants. Every human being is invested with a soul that will live throughout eternity in one of two places -" either heaven or hell. To be certain that his eternal home will be with God in Heaven, a person must have faith in Jesus Christ and be obedient to all His commands. "Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved" [ACT:4:12]). The urgency of the Gospel message can thus be seen, and the responsibility of publishing the Good News falls upon those who have received the love of God in their hearts.
Insignificant, yet Immortal
"When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; what is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?" [PS:8:3-4]). The Prophet Isaiah commented, too, upon the mighty works of the omnipotent God and the insignificance of man. "Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance: behold, he taketh up the isles as a very little thing" [ISA:40:15]). The truth is shown that man is very small among God's creations; and, unless God condescended to take recognition of man, there would be nothing that man could do to gain the attention or favour of the Creator. But God does take recognition of mankind -" recognition far beyond even that which man takes of himself. God sustains the individual lives, and He notes the thoughts and actions of each life. "God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret things, whether it be good, or whether it be evil" [ECC:12:14]). "I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works" [REV:20:12]).
Encouragement
If man had to secure his salvation through his own good works, or if man had to rely upon his own merit to go to Heaven, the cause would be hopeless; but the true Christian relies upon God and his hope is in God's plan of salvation. "Behold, the LORD'S hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear" [ISA:59:1]). "I have not spoken in secret, in a dark place of the earth: I said not unto the seed of Jacob, seek ye me in vain: I the LORD speak righteousness, I declare things that are right" [ISA:45:19]). "Hast thou not known? Hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding. He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: but they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint" [ISA:40:28-31]). Oh, glorious promise! Oh, happy people who walk in the light and will of the Lord God! How can anyone refuse the Lord's wondrous Gospel call?
Questions
1. In what way did the prophet promise comfort to the Children of Israel and to Jerusalem?
2. Who was "the voice of him that crieth in the wilderness"?
3. How did the voice in the wilderness fit in with Jesus and the Gospel plan?
4. How is the briefness of men's lives described in this lesson?
5. Why is it so important that a person's life should be devoted to God's service while man lives upon earth?
6. What does the word "omnipotent" mean?
7. Point out several verses from this lesson to show that our God is omnipotent.
8. With what are the nations compared, in the sight of God?
9. What encouragement is given to those who will trust in God?