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Observations from today’s readings and today’s S-WOD, Monday, 5 June 2023:
Isaiah 30:1, 2 – “Ah, stubborn children,” declares the Lord, “who carry out a plan, but not mine, and who make an alliance, but not of my Spirit, that they may add sin to sin; who set out to go down to Egypt, without asking for my direction, to take refuge in the protection of Pharaoh and to seek shelter in the shadow of Egypt!”
Just because you say you are doing it for God doesn’t mean God ever wanted you to do it. Many people confuse their ego with the Spirit.
If your plans are not God’s plan for you, your plans are doomed from the start. If you think you will find security in society, your job, your government, or anything else other than God, you are wrong. Search the Bible and see that God almost always takes people off their planned course to lead them where He would have them go. Search the Bible and see that God always disciplines those who trust themselves, the world’s wisdom, or institutions over Him.
Isaiah 30:1, 9-14 — “For they are a rebellious people, lying children, children unwilling to hear the instruction of the Lord; who say to the seers, “Do not see,” and to the prophets, “Do not prophesy to us what is right; speak to us smooth things, prophesy illusions, leave the way, turn aside from the path, let us hear no more about the Holy One of Israel.” Therefore thus says the Holy One of Israel. “Because you despise this word and trust in oppression and perverseness and rely on them, therefore this iniquity shall be to you like a breach in a high wall, bulging out, and about to collapse, whose breaking comes suddenly, in an instant; and its breaking is like that of a potter’s vessel.”
Many choose to go their own way, guided by their own desires rather than by the Spirit, and then they despise God’s word because it reveals the truth of their sinfulness. This is the path to destruction which eventually comes suddenly. We are to live our lives guided by the Spirit and the Word. There is no other way – we were created to love and serve God; it is our purpose. To live for any other purpose is actually meaningless, meaningless, meaningless – chasing after the wind.
A sinful people refuse to listen to the truth of God’s word. For example, try to recite publicly what the Bible says about homosexuality or divorce and see what happens.
People or nations which trust human wisdom rather than God’s word are destroyed suddenly and unexpectedly.
Isaiah 30:15 – For thus said the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel, “In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and in trust shall be your strength.” But you were unwilling.
Quietness is a mark of trust. Compare this verse with Jesus’ words: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30)
Don’t be unwilling to rest and trust in the Lord. Notice that little children don’t trust their parents, they ask a lot of questions – “Why do I have to do that? Where are we going? How much longer?” Then, they look for opportunities to do what they prefer. Trust quietly obeys and waits.
Isaiah 30:20 – And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, yet your Teacher will not hide himself anymore, but your eyes shall see your Teacher.
The Lord often allows you to go through hard times to teach you. Your Teacher is always there and knows what is best for you. As you often experienced in school, during the examination, the teacher remains silent. Sometimes, we need tests to grow in our learning and understanding. The Teacher knows in advance how we are going to do on the test, but He wants us to see the truth of our understanding, because you can’t improve upon what you can’t be honest about. Do your best; don’t ignore your ‘grade point average,’ return to the Teacher to improve your ‘grades.’ Don’t drop out of school or seek easier assignments. The Teacher promises to help you improve, and His teaching is perfect and far more valuable than instruction you can receive anywhere else. After all, He wrote the book!
Isaiah 30:21, 22 – And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it,” when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left. Then you will defile your carved idols overlaid with silver and your gold-plated metal images. You will scatter them as unclean things. You will say to them, “Be gone!”
When you turn to the Lord, He will guide you every step of the way, and the replacements for Him you once enjoyed will be despicable to you. God desires more than anything else, that you remove from your life all substitutes for Him.
2 Corinthians 7:1 — Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God.
Knowledge of Jesus should drive you towards a relentless pursuit of holiness, purity, and obedience. Grace compels us to holiness motivated by love rather than by mere duty towards the Law.
2 Corinthians 7:9 – As it is, I rejoice, not because you were grieved, but because you were grieved into repenting. For you felt a godly grief, so that you suffered no loss through us.
Being ‘sorry’ or remorseful is not the same as being repentant. A person can be sorry from a self-centered perspective (sorrow over personally suffering the consequences of sin) while not really having a repentant heart which seeks renewal and restoration with God and those offended. A person can even feel sorrow for having failed or hurt others, without a commitment to seek reconciliation. Judas took his sorrow to a suicidal end, but Peter’s repentance led to restoration and a changed life. Repentance is deep remorse over sins committed against God, driving the repentant person to truly hate their sin.
2 Corinthians 7:10 – For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death.
Not all sorrow is good, and not all sorrow is bad. The Bible says there is a grief which is good, and this ‘good grief’ has been called one of the “glorious paradoxes” of the Scripture. The difference between good grief and bad grief is whether it draws you closer to God (repentance, surrender, and subsequent assurance and joy) or further away. Good grief sorrowfully renounces sin while rejoicing in and leaning into salvation.
- 1 Timothy 1:15-17 — The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life. To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.
- 1 John 1:9 — If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Consider the following comments from Ligonier Ministry’s Tabletalk Magazine –
“Theologians and preachers typically distinguish two different attitudes that might be described as ‘repentance,’ at least in some sense. The first of these attitudes is attrition. In essence, attrition consists not of sorrow for offending God but is rather sorrow related to a fear of punishment or sorrow for losing a promised blessing. This is the kind of sorrow displayed by Judas, who was repentant for what He had done only in the sense that he wished he could undo it and that he knew betraying innocent blood would put him under the divine curse (Matt. 27:3–10). There is little evidence in Judas that he was sorry for wronging Christ, and we find no awareness in him that the primary problem with his transgression was not that it would incur punishment but that it was an offense against the holy character of God. Judas was sorry for opening himself up to punishment, and instead of submitting himself to God’s mercy, he took matters into his own hands and killed himself.
Contrition is the attitude that marks true repentance. In contrition, the penitent person acknowledges that the primary problem with sin is that it is a direct offense against God Himself. Contrite people understand that they deserve punishment, and they confess that the Lord would be just to inflict punishment if He so desired. They do not despair of the hope of forgiveness; in fact, the hope of forgiveness drives them to go before the Lord and express their sorrow. Nevertheless, they recognize that God does not owe them pardon. The godly grief that Paul describes in today’s passage recognizes that a great injustice has been done against the Lord in breaking His law.
We find an excellent example of contrition in Psalm 51. David recognizes that at the most fundamental level, God is the one whom he has offended, and that the Lord would be blameless to condemn him (vv. 3–4). If we do not have that attitude when we repent, we have not shown true contrition for our sin.”
When James warns the church against worldliness, he says, “Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.” (James 4:8-10) James is calling fellow believers to godly sorrow or good grief, a humble spirit that God can exalt.
There will come times in your life when God wants you to experience godly sorrow before you can return to gladness. Remember Romans 8:28, 29 – “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.” God will use your godly sorrow to conform you to the image of His Son, Jesus.
Godly sorrow is a joyful (positively hopeful) life-giving sorrow, not the worldly kind of grief that ends in death. If you are experiencing godly sorrow, you already have reason to rejoice because you know you have been saved by grace through faith in Jesus, not by works, and you are experiencing the evidence of the Holy Spirit in your life which is convicting you of sin and guiding you in sanctification. Through genuine repentance as you rejoice in the confidence of God’s grace and reconciliation through Jesus, you glorify His Name – “And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.” (2 Corinthians 3:18) “The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed and bring me safely into his heavenly kingdom. To him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.” (2 Timothy 4:18)
Even Christians can get trapped in a worldly grief which wallows in guilt, which simply refuses to truly repent (be contrite) and really accept forgiveness as a gift of grace through Jesus. Sometimes they will say they know they are forgiven, but they keep looking backwards and refuse to let go of the guilt. Obviously, you can’t be an effective minister/messenger of reconciliation and an ambassador for Christ if you don’t feel and reveal genuine reconciliation through Christ. “We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.” (2 Corinthians 5:20)
- Psalm 51:17 — The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.
- Isaiah 66:2 — But this is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word.
- Luke 9:62 — Jesus said to him, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”
- Philippians 3:12-16 — Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you. Only let us hold true to what we have attained.
“Cross” Fit S-WOD (Spiritual Workout of the Day) – 5 June 2023: Where needed, replace attrition (sorrow for one’s sins that arises from a motive other than that of the love of God) with contrition, receive forgiveness, and walk confidently and joyfully in God’s grace, proclaiming the grace you have received to others.
Defenders Bible Reading Plan 