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

The Language of Canaan

 

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

 

Isa 19:18 In that day five cities in the land of Egypt will speak the language of Canaan and swear by the LORD of hosts; one will be called the City of Destruction.  19 In that day there will be an altar to the LORD in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar to the LORD at its border.  20 And it will be for a sign and for a witness to the LORD of hosts in the land of Egypt;

 

In what day? I’m not exactly sure of what “that day” is, but it certainly speaks of a revival amongst the Egyptians, ( who are types of worldly living godless people) Something will happen to cause the people to swear by the One true God and they will speak the language of God’s people. The language of the redeemed.

 

What is the “language of Canaan,” if not the language of the gospel. Jesus spoke it when He arrived on this earth, when He said, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel." (Mk 1:15)

 

As followers of Jesus Christ, and armed with the power of the Holy Spirit we go forth, speaking the language of Canaan to a dying world. It’s what He commissioned us to do!

 

Mt 28:18 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.  19 "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,  20 "teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Amen.

 

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