Not A Ho Hum Event

 

Good day! I’m Duane Matz and this is Today’s Living Word:

 

What is my attitude toward participation in the Lord’s Supper? Do I look forward to it, or just dutifully go through the motions. I was forced to examine myself on that issue today as I was reading in the first chapter of Joel.

Joel speaks of a plague of locusts so bad that the entire land was stripped bare. It was so bad that the there was no wine or grain for offerings! Joe 1:9 The grain offering and the drink offering Have been cut off from the house of the LORD; The priests mourn, who minister to the LORD.

Imagine a land so devastated by disaster that there would be no wine or bread available for the Lord’s Supper! Would you miss it? Would you mourn with the priests of Joel’s day?

How would it affect your attitude toward participation in the Lord’s Supper. I don’t care how your particular church  “does communion,” but one thing I do know, it ought not be a “ho-hum” event for the Christian.

The Body and Blood of Christ given for you for the forgiveness of your sins! Let that truth sink in as the Lord gracefully comes to you every single time at the table with that assurance!

Participation in this expression of God’s love for you is essential in your Christian walk. Jesus put in this way in Joh 6:53-56, “Then Jesus said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you. 54 "Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. 55 "For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed. 56 "He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him.

 

It's not that the Lord’s Supper is necessary for salvation, but your participation is a sign of the spiritual life deposited in you at your baptism, and a reminder that Jesus is abiding in you.

 

I don’t know about you but that fact alone makes me not just want to come to table.... I'd just as soon run if I could!

I’m Duane Matz and that’s Today’s Living Word

The Original Sinner's Prayer

 Good day! I’m Duane Matz and this is Today’s Living Word:

 

Most of you hearing or reading this today have heard of “the Sinners Prayer.” The late evangelist Billy Graham would ask people to come forward at his rallies and say the prayer that went something like this:

 

“Dear Lord Jesus, I know that I am a sinner, and I ask for Your forgiveness. I believe You died for my sins and rose from the dead. I turn from my sins and invite You to come into my heart and life. I want to trust and follow You as my Lord and Savior. Amen.”

 

Spoken from the heart, this is a powerful prayer, acknowledging our own sinfulness, and the price that Jesus paid to forgive our sins. It also expresses our desire to repent (turn from our sins) and follow Jesus as we invite Him to be the Lord  of our life.

 

This morning, as I was reading in the Book of Hosea, I stumbled across a couple of verses that might be called the “original; sinners prayer.” Follow along with me and see if you don’t agree.

 

Ho 14:1 O Israel, return to the LORD your God, For you have stumbled because of your iniquity; (This prayer is for the backslidden, those who have walked away from the faith, and are caught up in sin. God invites them here to “return” to the Lord

 2 Take words with you, When you return, take words with you! Say a prayer! A sinner’s prayer! And return to the LORD. Say to Him, "Take away all iniquity; Receive us graciously, (By Your grace, forgive our sins!) For we will offer the sacrifices of our lips.

 3 Assyria shall not save us, We will not ride on horses, Nor will we say anymore to the work of our hands, You are our gods.' (We acknowledge that we are not saved by our good works)  For in You the fatherless finds mercy."  (We rely solely on Your mercy. Amen.

 

The whole prayer may sound something lie this: Father God, I am a sinner who has strayed away from You and I am in need of Your forgiveness. I acknowledge my helpless estate and plead for Your mercy and grace. By Your mercy forgive me of my sins. Help me to return to You! In Jesus name, Amen.

I’m Duane Matz and that’s Today’s Living Word

Inquire! Inquire!

 

Good day! I’m Duane Matz and this is Today’s Living Word:

 

Isa 21:11 The burden against Dumah. He calls to me out of Seir, "Watchman, what of the night? Watchman, what of the night?" 12 The watchman said, "The morning comes, and also the night. If you will inquire, inquire; Return! Come back!"

 

I find myself back to the Book of Isaiah today, having been going through it verse by verse, I last left off with the “burden against Babylon.” In verses 11 and 12 a new area that God is going to “unload” on. The city of Dumah! This city was a city founded by the Ishmaelites and now located in the territory  called Seir which was the land of the Edomites.

 

All these “ites” can be confusing, and quite frankly it would take too much time in a short devotion to give you all the background.  Let’s just turn to  Ps 137:7 to see why the “Lord was going to “unload” on them!

 

‘Remember, O LORD, against the sons of Edom The day of Jerusalem, Who said, "Raze it, raze it, To its very foundation!"”

 

These people were cheering the Babylonian captivity of Judah and basically chanting for Jerusalem to be razed to the ground! Not exactly a way to get on the good side of God! You don’t cheer over the destruction of Jerusalem; you do what Jesus did. “He wept.”

 

This person crying out to the watchman (Isaiah) is evidently an Edomite who concedes that “they have it coming/” He wants to know what the prophet can tell him about this judgment? What will it be? How long will it last?

 

The prophet replies, “Look, if you are really interested and concerned, feel free to ask, but the answer I will give is you need to return! You need to repent! You need to come back to the Lord.

 

The message is the same for you and I! Morning (relief from night) comes with repentance! Are you sincerely concerned about the judgement of God? Then call out to Jesus. Ac 2:21 And it shall come to pass That whoever calls on the name of the LORD Shall be saved.'

 

I’m Duane Matz and that’s Today’s Living Word

Building A Mansion

 

Good day! I’m Duane Matz and this is Today’s Living Word:

 

I have been re-reading the classic “Mere Christianity” by C.S. Lewis. If you’ve never read it, I highly recommend it and if you haven’t read it in a while, again I highly recommend you pick it up and go through it again, one chapter at a time, and be sure to bring your marking pen!

 

I was reading his chapter on “Counting the cost,” and almost ran out of ink as I underlined some of his thoughts on Christ’s admonition to “Be ye perfect.”  There is much to be said in response to this admonition, and although Lewis doesn’t mention the verse specifically, this chapter could be summed up in the words from  Php 1:6 being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ;

When God calls you to saving faith, He has more in mind for you than cleaning up your more obvious sins. You and I are,  “His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.(Eph 2:10) 

Lewis quotes the Christian writer George MacDonald  who pointed out, “every father is pleased with at the baby’s first attempt to walk: no father would be satisfied with anything less than a firm , free, manly walk in a grown up son.”

And like a good earthly father, we can be sure that if we fall, He will pick us up again.

 

One of the dangers associated with coming to Christ is once Jesus has cleaned up our obvious gross sins we are inclined to stop there and feel that now we are “good enough.”  But God wants us to continue down the road and strive toward perfection. (there’s always more work to be done in that arena before we get to heaven! Amen?

 

Lewis says “to shrink back from that plan is not humility; it is laziness and cowardice.” (Ouch) Of course we know that “the job will not be completed in this life: but He means to get us as far as possible in this life.”

 

One more quote from the chapter: When you came to Christ, Lewis says, “you thought you were going to be made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace,”

I might add that with every step of obedience and trust, we take in the here and now is just more material for that mansion Jesus is building for you in heaven!

I’m Duane Matz and that’s Today’s Living Word

The Evidence

 

Good day! I’m Duane Matz and this is Today’s Living Word:

 

Ho 4:1 Hear the word of the LORD, You children of Israel, For the LORD brings a charge against the inhabitants of the land: "There is no truth or mercy Or knowledge of God in the land. 2 By swearing and lying, Killing and stealing and committing adultery, They break all restraint, With bloodshed upon bloodshed.

 

These two verses speak volumes against inhabitants of the land. As Americans, we inhabit a land and we need to ask ourselves if these charges apply to us as well as they applied in the days of Hosea.

 

Is there a disregard of biblical truth in our society today? A lack of mercy? A general stiff-arming of God, keeping Him at a distance rather than having an intimate personal relationship  with Him through faith in Jesus Christ?

The answer to that question is found in verse 2. How are we doing with our mouths? Is there an unusual increase in cussing? Foul language is everywhere in our society. Even women are using language that years ago was reserved for sailors and the like.

Lies are prevalent as people seek to cover their sins and promote their agenda. How did those last ads in the election cycle strike you. There are so many lies, that one really doesn’t know who to believe anymore! To which I say, believe Jesus. He is the truth!

 

Killing! Not only the unborn , but senseless violence breaking out in schools, malls, theaters, parades, and other places that use to be regarded as safe.

 

How about stealing? Wrongful acquiring of goods and money! Shoplifting, looting, and lawmakers who enter congress as paupers and come out as kings.

 

Then  there’s the matter of adultery! Sexual sin that abounds in the land from pornography, fornication, homosexuality, and divorce, trampling the institution that God loves…marriage between a man and a woman.

 

All restraints of biblical morality have been shaken off by our culture and woe to you Hosea (preacher) for calling them out on it.

 

These are all evidences of a people who have shunned a personal relationship with God and settled for the ways of the world.

 

The answer? As we have said previously, there is a need for repentance and revival in the land. Let us live lives of repentance ourselves and pray the Lord use us as instruments of His grace and mercy in a land that desperately needs it!

I’m Duane Matz and that’s Today’s Living Word

No Intimacy With God

 

Good day! I’m Duane Matz and this is Today’s Living Word:

 

Ho 4:1 Hear the word of the LORD, You children of Israel, For the LORD brings a charge against the inhabitants of the land: "There is no truth or mercy Or knowledge of God in the land.

 

I don’t believe this charge from the Lord is restricted to the people of Hosea’s day and I say that because the charge is leveled against the inhabitants of the land. As a nation, (the United States of America) we inhabitant a land and if the shoe fits us, (God’s charges fit us) we must wear it.

 

So what are the charges? Three of them. (1) a trampling of truth, (2) a lack of mercy, (3) a lack of knowledge of God.  In the next verse, Hosea goes on to point out the evidences of such a culture. More on that next time.

 

For today I want to zero in on the “lack of knowledge.” Because, this lack of knowledge concerning God will produce the results of trampled truth and a lack of mercy.

The idea of knowledge here is not that of head knowledge, but rather that of intimacy. The word knowledge comes from the same word used when Adam “knew” Eve and she conceived.

So the charge against the inhabitants of the land is they lack a personal relationship with God! It’s not so much a charge, but a stating of fact. The problem with the inhabitants of the land, is they lack a personal relationship with God, and we know that the personal relationship comes through  God-granted faith in Jesus Christ.

 

It’s plain to see then what needs to happen in the land to rectify the situation. We need a revival! An outpouring of the Holy Spirit to turn people from their wayward ways and back to the ways of the Lord where truth and mercy are championed.

Corrie Ten Boom had this to say about revival. If you want revival draw a circle in the ground, then step into that circle and pray, “Lord bring revival to what is inside this circle!”

 

Will you step inside that circle? Will you pray? Revival starts one soul at a time, why can’t it start with me?

I’m Duane Matz and that’s Today’s Living Word

Go Your Way

 

Good day! I’m Duane Matz and this is Today’s Living Word:

 

I think I figured out the day that Jesus will return. I was reading in Daniel 12 today and it will be exactly 45 days after the abomination of desolation is set up. And that set up is going to occur 1290 days after the daily sacrifice is taken away.

 

I read about it in Da 12:11 "And from the time that the daily sacrifice is taken away, and the abomination of desolation is set up, there shall be one thousand two hundred and ninety days. 12 "Blessed is he who waits, and comes to the one thousand three hundred and thirty-five days.

Do the math! Exactly 45 days! Your welcome!

Oh the speculations that have come down to us and continue to come forth from people seeking to interpret these verses and assign dates to the second coming!

Can’t blame them, even Daniel was curious. But what did the angel tell Daniel to do about it? He said in Da 12:13 "But you, go your way till the end; for you shall rest, and will arise to your inheritance at the end of the days."

 

Is there any better advice for all of us. The table has been set for years for the Lord’s return. Every generation since the ascension of Jesus has had cause to say, “This is it!!”

 

People running around like chickens with their heads cut off, knowledge exploding exponentially! This is it right? Da 12:4b " until the time of the end; many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase."

Whether it is or not. Pilgrim. Be loke Daniel, Go your way. Keep living , keep loving, keep believing, keep serving, because no matter when the end comes, you will be like Daniel, arising to your inheritance, when the Lord returns!

 

I’m Duane Matz and that’s Today’s Living Word

Call On Jesus

 Welcome to Today's Living Word

I was reading the 96th Psalm this morning and it has some pretty important stuff in it.

Verse 13 says, “For He is coming, for He is coming to judge the earth. He shall judge the world with righteousness, and the peoples with His truth.”

His truth is the measuring stick by which we all shall be judged! As Jesus said in Joh 12:48 "He who rejects Me, and does not receive My words, has that which judges him--the word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day.

Since none of us know when Jesus will return or call us home should He tarry, we always need to be ready. Eternity is an awful long time to spend anywhere, and it’s much better to spend it in heaven rather than hell!

The Psalmist also extols those who know this truth to “proclaim the good news of His salvation from day to day” (Verse 2)

What does that sound like?

It sounds like this:

Ro 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

Ro 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Ro 5:8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Ro 10:9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.

Ro 10:13 For "whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved."

In a nutshell, none of us deserve heaven on our own, the wages of our sin is death (eternal damnation) but Jesus paid the price for our sins and His payment has been accepted by God and as many who call on His name in this life will be saved! It’s a gift from God, as sinners we don’t deserve it! It doesn’t matter how bad your sins have been, Jesus died for us even while we were sinners! So confess with your mouth…..agree that Jesus is Lord and died for your sins and God raised Him from the dead and you will be saved.

I'm Duane Matz and that's Today's Living Word

Bigger Fish To Fry

 

Good day, I’m Duane Matz and welcome to Today’s Living Word.

 

Have you been praying and waiting on God for an answer? We’ve all been there! We’ve all heard the cliché God answers prayer in three ways, Yes, No, and not yet. Let’s talk about an aspect of “not yet”  that we often overlook. The reality of spiritual warfare!   Let’s talk about it from the book of Daniel:

 

Daniel had been fasting and even abstaining from bathing for three weeks and wasn’t getting an answer from God, finally an answer showed up in the form of an angel. We read about it in Da 10:12,13, “Then he said to me, "Do not fear, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart to understand, and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard; and I have come because of your words. 13 "But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me twenty-one days; and behold, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I had been left alone there with the kings of Persia.

 

God heard Daniel’s prayer; he has heard your prayers as well. But sometimes God has bigger fish to fry. Know that! Persist in your prayer, and while you wait, throw one or two prayers in for the very real battlefield of civil government.

 

We are reminded of this duty in 1Ti 2:1 Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, 2 for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence.

 

Peace, godliness, and reverence for nations. Pray for it! That’s one big fish that our world needs!

 

I’m Duane Matz and that’s Today’s Living Word!

Babylon Is Fallen, Is Fallen!

 

Good day! I’m Duane Matz and this is Today’s Living Word:

 

Isa 21:6 For thus has the Lord said to me: "Go, set a watchman, Let him declare what he sees." 7 And he saw a chariot with a pair of horsemen, A chariot of donkeys, and a chariot of camels, And he listened earnestly with great care. 8 Then he cried, "A lion, my Lord! I stand continually on the watchtower in the daytime; I have sat at my post every night. 9 And look, here comes a chariot of men with a pair of horsemen!" Then he answered and said, "Babylon is fallen, is fallen! And all the carved images of her gods He has broken to the ground." 10 Oh, my threshing and the grain of my floor! That which I have heard from the LORD of hosts, The God of Israel, I have declared to you.

Babylon, that mighty city, is fallen, is fallen! (Twice for emphasis) A very real part of history. This city and all of its glory would come to an end. Their gods all smashed to the ground.  The Lord wants us to note this well because HE brings it up again in the Book of Revelation!

 

Re 14:8 says, “And another angel followed, saying, "Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she has made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication."

In the Book of Revelation  we have a message for the church for all time! It is a reminder of the victory, the final defeat of all that is anti-christian.

 

Babylon in the Book of Revelation represents all the enemies of the church for all time.

 

In the Old Testament, Babylon had carried the unchaste or unfaithful Israel off to captivity. When Babylon fell, it signaled the release of all the captives and their return to the promised land.  This is what is being proclaimed in a prophetic manner in the Book of Revelation.

 

On Judgment Day, Babylon will fall, will fall! Brought low, defeated., she will deceive no more. She will no longer array herself against the Lamb and His church. She is fallen fallen! She will no longer lead the unsuspecting to her poisoned trough of unfaithfulness that brings about judgement to all who drink from it.

When you look around our world today and find yourself feeling overwhelmed by the victories of the enemy, remember they are short-lived. In the end the antichristian forces of the world will be cast down and trampled by the Lord Jesus Christ.

 

I’m Duane Matz and that’s Today’s Living Word

Don't Be Sloppy With Your Faith

 

Good day! I’m Duane Matz and this is Today’s Living Word:

 

Isa 21:5 Prepare the table, Set a watchman in the tower, Eat and drink. Arise, you princes, Anoint the shield!

This portion of Isaiah deals with the sudden overthrow of Babylon during the reign of Belshazzar. It’s a point we would do well to consider….namely the suddenness of God’s judgement. When the shoe drops, it drops quickly and thoroughly, but it never drops without ample warning. God warns and gives us time to repent before He sends His calamity.

 

The world was given 120 years’ worth of warning in the days of Noah, but they ignored it and the flood came in all its suddenness and destroyed the unfaithful.

Isaiah and the other prophets had warned the Assyrians of the coming destruction and again they ignored it, and as Belshazzar was feasting and mocking God…God’s judgment against them interrupted their feasting, as the finger of God wrote a chilling message on the wall of their banquet hall.

 

Daniel was summoned to interpret the message and it was simply this: “Balshazzar, God has numbered your kingdom and finished it. You have been weighed in the balances and found wanting.”

But before Daniel interpreted the handwriting, he reminded Belshazzar of his great sin!  

Da 5:23 "And you have lifted yourself up against the Lord of heaven. They have brought the vessels of His house before you, and you and your lords, your wives and your concubines, have drunk wine from them. And you have praised the gods of silver and gold, bronze and iron, wood and stone, which do not see or hear or know; and the God who holds your breath in His hand and owns all your ways, you have not glorified.

 On that very night, the watchman of Babylon cried out, Arise, you princes, Anoint the shield! The city was under attack and the city was overthrown and on that very night Belshazzar met his Maker, whom he had mocked with all his feasting. Daniel 5:30 tells us:  That very night Belshazzar, king of the Chaldeans, was slain.

 

O pilgrim, may God make you aware of the suddenness of His judgement. Be on guard! Watch and pray. He has given us ample warning. Get your faith house in order and be prepared like the five wise virgins who kept the oil in their lamps and were allowed in to the only feast that matters. The other five were slovenly with their faith until it was too late, due to the suddenness of God’s final judgement.

Mt 25:1 "Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom.

 2 "Now five of them were wise, and five were foolish.

 3 "Those who were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them,

 4 "but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps.

 5 "But while the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept.

 6 "And at midnight a cry was heard: 'Behold, the bridegroom is coming; go out to meet him!'

 7 "Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps.

 8 "And the foolish said to the wise, 'Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.'

 9 "But the wise answered, saying, 'No, lest there should not be enough for us and you; but go rather to those who sell, and buy for yourselves.'

 10 "And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding; and the door was shut.

 11 "Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, 'Lord, Lord, open to us!'

 12 "But he answered and said, 'Assuredly, I say to you, I do not know you.'

 13 "Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming.

 

I’m Duane Matz and that’s Today’s Living Word

Ought To Get Your Knees A'knocking

 

Good day! I’m Duane Matz and this is Today’s Living Word:

 

Isa 21:1 The burden against the Wilderness of the Sea. As whirlwinds in the South pass through, So it comes from the desert, from a terrible land. 2 A distressing vision is declared to me; The treacherous dealer deals treacherously, And the plunderer plunders. Go up, O Elam! Besiege, O Media! All its sighing I have made to cease. 3 Therefore my loins are filled with pain; Pangs have taken hold of me, like the pangs of a woman in labor. I was distressed when I heard it; I was dismayed when I saw it. 4 My heart wavered, fearfulness frightened me; The night for which I longed He turned into fear for me.

 

What kind of vision is this? What has the Lord showed Isaiah that “distressed” him? What was it that “filled his loins with pain?” What caused him to actually experience pains similar to childbirth? He was “distressed, dismayed, wavering, frightened,” and the deliverance that he longed for turned into fear!”

This was the burden against the “Wilderness of the Sea,” which is a reference to Babylon. Babylon that great city, which is the forever symbol in the Bible of opulence and material wealth.

In this prophecy, Isaiah is stunned by the sudden turnaround for this great city. It would be as sudden as a dust storm rising up in the desert. The Medes would overrun it and take it in one night. Isaiah saw the end of Balshazzar and his company on that fateful night when they were partying using the holy utensils from the temple of God, mocking God.

It was then that the mysterious hand showed up and wrote on the wall and wrote these words:  MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN. And Daniel interpreted them for the wicked king!

 26 "This is the interpretation of each word. MENE: God has numbered your kingdom, and finished it;  27 "TEKEL: You have been weighed in the balances, and found wanting; 28 "PERES: Your kingdom has been divided, and given to the Medes and Persians."

The appearance of this mysterious hand set the kings knees to knocking mirroring Isaiah’s reaction of terror! Da 5:5 In the same hour the fingers of a man's hand appeared and wrote opposite the lampstand on the plaster of the wall of the king's palace; and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote. 6 Then the king's countenance changed, and his thoughts troubled him, so that the joints of his hips were loosened and his knees knocked against each other.

 What should you and I make of this? The same thing Isaiah did. He said ; The night for which I longed He turned into fear for me.

The lesson is this. The end will come suddenly. Unbelievers will be partying and whooping it up with no regard to God, even mocking Him. It will be as in the days of Noah: Jesus said in Mt 24:37 "But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.  38 "For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark,  39 "and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.

As redeemed followers of Jesus we like Isaiah ought to be longing for that Day of deliverance, and at the same time a spirit of fear should overtake us as we consider the end of those who rejected  and mocked God!

 

Oh beloved have a holy fear of what will happen suddenly to those who reject the saving grace of God and get on your knees and pray! Pray for God’s gift of repentance and saving grace to come to them before it’s too late. The handwriting is on the wall, and unless they have a change of heart they will spend eternity in hell!

 

I’m Duane Matz and that’s Today’s Living Word

Without Christ, Your Evil Deeds Will Be Exposed

 

Good day! I’m Duane Matz and this is Today’s Living Word:

 

Isa 20:1 In the year that Tartan came to Ashdod, when Sargon the king of Assyria sent him, and he fought against Ashdod and took it, 2 at the same time the LORD spoke by Isaiah the son of Amoz, saying, "Go, and remove the sackcloth from your body, and take your sandals off your feet." And he did so, walking naked and barefoot. 3 Then the LORD said, "Just as My servant Isaiah has walked naked and barefoot three years for a sign and a wonder against Egypt and Ethiopia, 4 "so shall the king of Assyria lead away the Egyptians as prisoners and the Ethiopians as captives, young and old, naked and barefoot, with their buttocks uncovered, to the shame of Egypt. 5 "Then they shall be afraid and ashamed of Ethiopia their expectation and Egypt their glory. 6 "And the inhabitant of this territory will say in that day, 'Surely such is our expectation, wherever we flee for help to be delivered from the king of Assyria; and how shall we escape?'"

It's not easy being a prophet! In this chapter of Isaiah we start out in verse 1 with a definite time frame. It was the year that Tartan came to Ashdod and conquered it.

Tartan was the commander-in-chief  who served under Sennacherib who was the king of Assyria. Ashdod was a city of the Philistines. The Assyrians were on the march! This verse would be a headline in the Jerusalem times. The date and event is certain.

 

Now it gets a little strange. At this time God tells Isaiah to get out of the sackcloth he had been wearing. (typical garb for a prophet) and to take off his shoes and walk around basically barefoot and in his undies (he was likely not totally naked, just not fully clothed)

 If someone were to ask Isaiah, “What in the world are you doing? He would reply, “this is just a sign against Egypt and Ethiopia.”

What does it mean Isaiah?”

It means that Egypt and Ethiopia will be similarly dressed as they are marched off  to captivity after their capture by the Assyrians.” Young, old, barefoot and in their undies as prisoners of war.

 

The point being made to God’s people is this. Do you really want to trust in the Egyptians and the Ethiopians to deliver you from the Assyrians? Good luck with that. They are going to be conquered by the Assyrians!

In the same fashion for you and I the question is the same. Do you really want to trust in anything other than the grace and power of God to deliver you from the inevitable destruction of the end?

 

Put your trust in Jesus. Wear his robe of righteousness given to you at your baptism and be spared being paraded around shoeless and in your undies on the Last Day.

 

Of course that’s not literally what will happen on that day, but without Jesus and His covering, you and your evil deeds will be totally exposed as you are marched off to the forever captivity of hell.

 

I’m Duane Matz and that’s Today’s Living Word

No More War

 

Good day! I’m Duane Matz and this  is Today’s Living Word:

 

Isa 19:23 In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrian will come into Egypt and the Egyptian into Assyria, and the Egyptians will serve with the Assyrians. 24 In that day Israel will be one of three with Egypt and Assyria-a blessing in the midst of the land, 25 whom the LORD of hosts shall bless, saying, "Blessed is Egypt My people, and Assyria the work of My hands, and Israel My inheritance."

“In that day.” What day can this be other than the Day that Jesus returns and makes all things new. It’s a Day when Jew and Gentile, Israeli, Assyrian, Egyptian,  alike are forever at peace with each other. No more wars, no more barriers between people. It will be a world of perfect peace. It will be heaven!

 

It will be as Isaiah has earlier prophesied in Isa 2:4 He shall judge between the nations, And rebuke many people; They shall beat their swords into plowshares, And their spears into pruning hooks; Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, Neither shall they learn war anymore.

 

Imagine a world without war! Then pray with the Apostle John from the Book of Revelation. “Come Lord Jesus.”

I’m Duane Matz and that’s Today’s Living Word

Three Simple Words

 

Good day! I’m Duane Matz and this  is Today’s Living Word:

 

Isa 19:21 Then the LORD will be known to Egypt, and the Egyptians will know the LORD in that day, and will make sacrifice and offering; yes, they will make a vow to the LORD and perform it.  22 And the LORD will strike Egypt, He will strike and heal it; they will return to the LORD, and He will be entreated by them and heal them.

“In that day.” A day when the healing gospel of Christ comes to the Gentiles. (Let’s call them the Egyptians) A day when the Lord is rightly known and worshipped. The performance of a vow speaks of a desire to please the Lord through obedience and trust.

 

When the gospel is received, the Lord strikes the heart of the unbeliever and heals him immediately of his or her sin problem. He will be “entreated,” now there’s a word we don’t use every day! It means to ask someone earnestly or anxiously to do something.

 

In this case it is the sinner asking God earnestly to save them, and here in Isaiah, we see that God promises to do just that! What a beautiful portion of Scripture from Isaiah!

 

It is a promise to you dear sinner. A promise to you who have been living in Egypt. Living in a godless sinful world with no thought given to God. But now you have been shaken to the core. Your world is falling apart and no matter what you have done in the past or are doing now, God invites you to repent and believe the Gospel!

Cry out! Entreat the Lord with three simple words. “Lord save me!” And He promises to hear and heal. Jesus said in Joh 6:37 "All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out.

 

Cry out o bleating heart. The Shepherd will come to your rescue!

 

I’m Duane Matz and that’s Today’s Living Word