Isaiah´s prophesy of God's offer of grace in the New Covenant, and of His forming of the Christian Church

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1. God's offer of grace in the New Covenant.

Isaiah 40:1-2 "Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. 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."
Isaiah prophesied here more than 700 years before the New Bloodcovenant began about God's giving of grace in New Testament time. This promise of God is only fulfilled after the death on the cross and the resurrection of the Lamb of God on Golgotha, where the unrighteousness, caused by the sins of man, is reconciled, and satan[1] is defeated and conquered by the death and resurrection of the Lamb of God.
Pardoned man then is doubly pardoned by YaHWeH after his repentance unto God: His sins are forgiven, and he is delivered from them; He receives from God's hand the new Christ-life, the divine nature.
2 Peter 1:3-4 "According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust."
This prophecy then shows the way to how this divine gift of mercy is given to the sinner.
Isaiah 40:3 "The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God."
This divine voice tells us that we are to prepare the way to and in our heart for YaHWeH, that we are to open the wilderness of sin in our heart unto Him, and make a straight path, a road, to the wilderness of our thinking and heart. Then He shall come in unto us in forgiveness of our sins, washing us in His blood.
Psalm 24:7-10 says the same:
"Lift up your heads, O ye gates, and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in Who is this King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, O ye gates, even lift them up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in. Who is this King of glory? The Lord of hosts, he is the King of glory. Selah."
We must open unto Him the eternal gates of our body (our ears), of our soul (our will), and of our spirit (the love for God). Then He shall bring His victory over satan and sin into our thinking, heart and life (verse 8), and He shall let us partake in the Body of Christ, in so doing making us part of His divine army, of which He is the divine General; an army that will fight and win the victory over satan, and that will take from him his spoils, the sinners who are in his power.
We also read this in Luke 11:21-22:
"When a strong man armed (satan) keepeth his palace, his goods are in peace: But when a stronger than he (God's anointed servant in the power of God's Holy Spirit) shall come upon him (satan), and overcome him, he taketh from him all his armor (destroys all his power) wherein he (satan) trusted, and divideth his spoils (takes the redeemed souls into God's kingdom)."
Let us return to Isaiah 40:4-5:
"Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain: And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it."
We see here Jesus Christ's work of mercy in the thinking, heart and life of redeemed, repentant man. Verse 4 tells of His work of salvation. All that sin worked in our thinking, heart and life, will be removed by Him: the valleys and mountains of committed unrighteousness, even all that is crooked and rough (the small sins). In the place thereof He shall make a valley, a paradise.
In Isaiah 40:5 we read that He shall clothe us, inwardly and outwardly, with His own glory, the glory of YaHWeH, and all people shall see this glory in the nature and the life of the Bride of the Lamb of God.
Isaiah 60:1-3 "Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee. And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising."
Isaiah 61:10 "I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels."
Revelation 21:11 "(The Bride of the Lamb) Having the glory of God: and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone (a diamond), clear as crystal."
We see here that this prophecy of Isaiah's will only be fully fulfilled in the end-time.
Isaiah 40:6-8 "The voice said, Cry. And he said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field: The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: because the spirit of the Lord bloweth upon it: surely the people is grass. The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever."
Here God's prophecy warns us that we cannot receive this deliverance from sin and satan, and the renewal in Christ, in our own, human strength or by doing our best, but that this must happen by His redeeming and healing Word, which He will speak through His called, anointed servants.
All that man does, however beautiful in men's eyes, will have no eternal value. His Spirit must Itself implant this Word in our spirit, our soul, and in our body.

2. The forming of the Christian Church.
Isaiah 40:9-10 "O Zion, that bringest good tidings, get thee up into the high mountain; O Jerusalem, that bringest good tidings, lift up thy voice with strength; lift it up, be not afraid, say unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God! Behold, the Lord God will come with strong hand, and his arm shall rulefor him: behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him."
He shall also form workers from among the people He shall call and anoint hereto, who will proclaim His redeeming and creating Word. These must thereto climb upon a high mountain. This mountain is the great power of the Holy Spirit, of His anointing unto the labor, His clothing with divine power; which, by His Word as a two-edged sharp sword, through His servants, will defeat satan's power; and will destroy satan's power in the body, soul and spirit of the people who will repent, taking them into God's Kingdom.
Isaiah 40:11 "He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead them that are with young."
Then YaHWeH Himself shall through His eternal Son build His Church and make her into the New Jerusalem.
Matthew 16:16-19 "And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. And I say also unto thee, that thou art Peter, and upon this rock (petra) I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven."
Here, Peter stands for all His servants, that He called hereto, and whom He shall strengthen with the keys to His kingdom to open the doors thereof for the converts, and to lead them further inwards into His Holy Place.

Amen.

By E. van den Worm

[1] We write the word satan not with a capital, as it is not a name, but a word meaning opponent or adversary, accuser.

Isaiah´s prophesy of God's offer of grace in the New Covenant, and of His forming of the Christian Church.

LUKE (Chapter 5) - The Church, a royal priesthood, people won out of sin

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Sinners are cleansed by the Word of the cross, and sanctified to be members of the Body of Christ that they may bear fruit (1 Corinthians 1:18).
Luke 5 verse 1-4: "And it came to pass, that, as the people pressed upon him to hear the word of God, he stood by the lake of Gennesareth, And saw two ships standing by the lake: but the fishermen were gone out of them, and were washing their nets. And he entered into one of the ships, which was Simon's, and prayed him that he would thrust out a little from the land. And he sat down, and taught the people out of the ship. Now when he had left speaking, he said unto Simon, Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught (of fish)."
Here Jesus Christ brought God's Word to the gathered people listening to Him. He brought this Word in the power of the Holy Spirit. It was like a fire that burned away the sins, and renewed man, and changed him (inwardly) according to His will. When the basic principles of the Word have also been established in us, then He will also say to us that which He said to Simon: "Launch out into the deep, and cast out your nets for the catch." For we, after we have received the basic principles of Christianity in our heart and in our thoughts, must obey the following command: "Launch out into the deep", "Give also the depths of your own heart over to the Son of the living God". He wants to cleanse of all carnal and spiritual pollution also the depths of our inner being. He wants us to come to the prayer: "Search my inner being, Lord, that by You all darkness in me be truly removed, and I be purified of all carnal and spiritual defilement(s)!" A hunger, a thirst must arise in your and my inner being to be completely delivered from all that is not from and of Him. This with the purpose to, in priestly service, "cast out our nets" to "catch" people in His Name.

Luke 5 verse 5-11: "And Simon answering said unto him, Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing: nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net. And when they had this done, they enclosed a great multitude of fishes: and their net brake. And they beckoned unto their partners, which were in the other ship, that they should come and help them. And they came, and filled both their ships, so that they began to sink. When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord. For he was astonished, and all that were with him, at the draught of the fishes which they had taken: And so was also James, and John, the sons of Zebedee, which were partners with Simon. And Jesus said unto Simon, Fear not; from henceforth thou shalt catch men. And when they had brought their ships to land, they forsook all, and followed him."
The Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Word of God, is brought to (the people of) the world, and it builds a pure and spiritual body out of sinners, a new humanity, of which each person has an active part in the whole. Each member of the Body of the Lord Jesus Christ shares in the work in the divine Kingdom, great and small, from apostle to the smallest helping hand; all help with the calling, after the inner working of the Spirit of God and His gifts, to come to the fulfillment of what God wants; of that which He intends. A (large) army of witnesses must be created (here: be prepared).
Do not all members of our natural body work together for the maintenance and perfecting of this body; unto the finest muscular tissues, no matter how simple each part's function? In the same way each person in the Body of Jesus has his own work. But all and all things work – and work together – to perfect the Body of Jesus by the power and wisdom Christ gave us. Each one must come to active co-operation under the mighty leadership of God's Holy Spirit, namely to witness. In our profound joy we can't help witnessing. The verb says: What the heart thinks, the mouth speaks. Is it not the most natural thing for an apple tree to bring forth apples, and a cherry tree cherries? In the same way, by the inner working of the Spirit, this testimony life will grow naturally in a healthy Christian life, and we will bring forth fruit, and help to form the Body by the power of Jesus Christ, by the inner working of the Spirit, and by the gifts He gives. So we "catch" people and lead them into the Kingdom of God; each one after the calling and after the measure of the gift of Christ.
Beloved, let us have an active part in this Kingdom of God. Let us be prepared to lose (the power of) the old and sinful in our heart and life by the power of the Word of the living God and the blood of the Lamb. By this Word let Jesus Christ truly come alive in us. Let His Kingdom in us be formed by the justifying power of no one less than Himself! When we discover something within us which is not entirely according to His will, let us then hand it over to Jesus Christ that He may completely purify and sanctify us, and baptize us with His Holy Spirit, and fill us to all His fullness.
In the preceding part we viewed the Body of Christ as a whole; namely the Body consisting of many members, each with his own calling and work; now we will have a close look at such a member; at the justification of his soul, his body, and his spirit.

CLICK HERE if you want to read this study (Chapter 5) – that is to long for the Blog.

By E. van den Worm