The Work of the
Coming Messiah
Book of Isaiah
Chapter 61
Most of this entire
world will not be saved because they will fail to believe in the work
of the Messiah.
The Hebrew word
"Mashiach" (Messiah) is used 39 times in the Old Testament
and every time it means "anointed".
As Christians, we
use it in the New Testament to refer to our Holy Savior but we have
good reason because the Word of God says so!
The Messiah is the
anointed One of God!
Psa 45:7 Thou
lovest righteousness, and hatest wickedness: "therefore God, thy
God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows".
If God says the
Messiah is God then that is good enough for me!
Jesus is said to be
the Messiah in the New testament:
Joh 1:41 He first
findeth his own brother Simon, and saith unto him, "We have
found the Messias, which is, being interpreted, the Christ".
The Woman at the
well with Jesus is very aware of the Messiah and Jesus responds:
Joh 4:25 The woman
saith unto him, "I know that Messias cometh, which is called
Christ": when he is come, he will tell us all things.
Joh 4:26 "Jesus
saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am he".
Christ is not the
last name of Jesus, it is who He is, "Jesus the Messiah"!
In Prophecy, the
word Messiah is only used twice and both times it refers to the
anointed One of God.
Dan 9:26 And after
threescore and two weeks shall Messiah "be cut off", but
not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall
destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with
a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.
Dan 9:27 And "he
shall" confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the
midst of the week "he shall" cause the sacrifice and the
oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations "he
shall" make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that
determined shall be poured upon the desolate.
The first great
promise of the Messiah comes from the first book of the Bible:
Gen 3:15 And "I
will put enmity between thee and the woman", and between thy
seed and her seed; "it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt
bruise his heel". (enmity being the friendship of the world)
We do not need to
wonder about the meaning of these things because Jesus the Messiah
(the Christ) used this Chapter in the Book of Isaiah to claim He was
this Messiah and even refers to His First and Second coming by His
actions, which was missed by the Jews.
*****Isa 61:1 The
Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me
to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the
brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening
of the prison to them that are bound;
Isa 61:2 To
proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of
our God; to comfort all that mourn;
Isa 61:3 To appoint
unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the
oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of
heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the
planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified.
For all those that
have a head knowledge of God as Holy and Divine and do not accept
that God took on the ministry to provide salvation to all His
creation, then their head knowledge is useless!
We will never know
the truth of God until we realize and accept the ministry of the
Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit in relationship to our eternal
salvation!
It is the Messiah
Himself, that announces His mission at His First Coming and at His
Second coming!
How do we know this?
Listen to the Words of the Lord Jesus Christ, the true Messiah.
Luk 4:16 And he
came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom
was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for
to read.
Luk 4:17 And there
was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when he
had opened the book, he found the place where it was written,
Luk 4:18 The Spirit
of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the
gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to
preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the
blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,
Luk 4:19 To preach
the acceptable year of the Lord.
Luk 4:20 And he
closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down.
And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on
him.
Notice how He stops
before He says, "the day of vengeance of our God" because
this describes His actions at His Second Coming!
It should be obvious
that there must be "an acceptable year of the Lord"!
The term year in
this passage does not mean "one Year" as our calendar
states but a certain age with a beginning and an ending.
We call it the
"Church Age"!
All the work of the
Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ did, did not take place because of the
"superhuman qualities" of His person but in the power of
the Holy Spirit!
Without the work of
the Father, the Son (the Messiah), and the Holy Spirit, there could
be no one be saved!
God is Spirit!
Joh_4:24 God is a
Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in
truth.
All true ministry is
always inspired by the Spirit of God.
The only message to
this lost world by the Holy Spirit is the "Gospel of Jesus
Christ"
Joh_15:26 But when
the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father,
even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, "he
shall testify of me":
None of these things
are confusing because the truth is never confusing!
It is the lies of
the world that causes confusion because Satan is the master of
deception!
Isaiah, by the Holy
Spirit, laid all these things out about 700 years before the Messiah
first came!
The Lord Jesus
Christ said Himself that He was the fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy
and His ministry and His actions proved this to be true!
Jesus Christ
preached the "Good News"!
Even today the "Good
News" is tossed aside because people just love "bad news".
More riches come by
"bad news" than any other thing in all this world!
The real "bad
news" is that all sinners are Satan's captives!
The "Good News"
is that the Messiah came to deliver all those captives from Satan's
bondage!
1Jn 3:8 He that
committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the
beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he
might destroy the works of the devil.
The Lord Jesus just
ask us all to consider these words He is saying and surely, we can
understand the truth.
Every word and every
action of the ministry of Christ Jesus proved He is the Messiah!
God provides us with
a choice: acceptance of His truth or vengeance if His truth is
rejected.
Acceptance is being
"justified" by the work of the Lord.
Rom 5:1 Therefore
being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord
Jesus Christ:
Rom 5:2 By whom
also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and
rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
Vengeance, is not
speaking of revenge for making the wrong choice but only answering to
the "judgment of God".
Rom 6:23 For the
wages of sin is death;
Eze 18:20 The soul
that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of
the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son:
the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the
wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him.
God provides us a
method to escape this death!
Eze 18:21 But if
the wicked will turn from all his sins that he hath committed, and
keep all my statutes, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall
surely live, he shall not die.
From experience, I
can tell you that once I realized I had sinned against our Holy God,
I began to mourn for what I had done to Him and I still do at times!
We must never forget
that each one of us that now know the Lord Jesus as our Savior were
once caught up in Satan's prison!
1Co_6:11 And such
were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye
are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our
God.
Not only that but we
will mourn for our children, our friends, and our acquaintances who
have not yet come to the Lord.
We will mourn for
this sinful world!
If we are part of
the Church then we need to mourn for those who are not part of the
Church!
2Co 7:10 For godly
sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the
sorrow of the world worketh death.
When the Jews would
mourn in shame they would sometimes cover themselves with ashes but
"salvation will replace ashes with beauty".
Salvation will
replace that mourning with the "oil of joy".
Salvation will
replace "heaviness" with the praise of God.
We will become trees
planted in the Garden of God's "righteousness" to glorify
God!
Jer 17:7 Blessed is
the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is.
Jer 17:8 For he
shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her
roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf
shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought,
neither shall cease from yielding fruit.
Psa_1:3 And he
shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth
forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and
whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.
*****Isa 61:4 And
they shall build the old wastes, they shall raise up the former
desolations, and they shall repair the waste cities, the desolations
of many generations.
We already know that
Isaiah was preaching to the Jewish captives in Babylon and his
message was that Jerusalem would be rebuilt and the Temple.
This message extends
far beyond this time, to the time of the Millennial Kingdom when this
entire world will be transformed into a world such as the Garden of
Eden.
But even greater
than this, is the message of that wasted place of that lost soul
where there is no sense of right and wrong!
Isa 58:12 And they
that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places: thou shalt
raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be
called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell
in.
All those captives
who have been made free.
All those trees
planted by God's river.
All those who have
now called on the Lord will be employed in the building of the
Church!
It had been the job
of the Jews to spread the Word of God but that job has now been given
to the Church and it seems we have forgotten that we have this job.
(Shame on the modern-day Church)
Israel***Exo 19:6
And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation.
These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of
Israel.
The Church***1Pe 2:9
But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation,
a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who
hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:
1Pe 2:10 Which in
time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had
not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.
There have still
been desolations for many generations that still go unrepaired!
Many in this world
will certainly come face to face with their sin one day soon and "the
message of God must be ready for them"!
*****Isa 61:5 And
strangers shall stand and feed your flocks, and the sons of the alien
shall be your plowmen and your vinedressers.
The message of
Isaiah to the Jew was if they would repent and return to the Lord
they could then assume the duties of taking the Word of God to the
Gentiles, which they hated and rejected. Only in this sense, the
Gentile would have been subordinate to the Jew.
Since this job now
belongs to the Church, we are all on even ground. (We all stand on
even ground at the Cross)
Gal_3:28 There is
neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is
neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.
In the time of the
Millennial Kingdom, The Nation of Israel will be restored and there
will be a restoration of many nations of this world.
Positions of
authority will be given to those of the Church that were called out
(the Rapture) along with whatever God had promised to King David.
People from all
nations will be doing the day by day work to carry out God's economy!
There will be no
such name as foreigner or alien or immigrant and no one will oppress
Israel or Jerusalem!
1Co 6:2 Do ye not
know that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world shall be
judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters?
1Co 6:3 Know ye not
that we shall judge angels? how much more things that pertain to this
life?
*****Isa 61:6 But
ye shall be named the Priests of the LORD: men shall call you the
Ministers of our God: ye shall eat the riches of the Gentiles, and in
their glory shall ye boast yourselves.
The Church having
returned with the Lord for positions of authority and many other
things, these Jews will once again be named the priests of the Lord
to carry out what God had intended to begin with Israel.
It will also be
these Jews who will minister in the Newly rebuilt Temple.
The Church has never
been a part of the Jewish Temple, we are in ourselves a Holy Temple
of God!
It had been the
Gentiles that had gotten the glory on the Temple mount for many years
but this would now be reversed and the things of God's Temple will
have all the glory in Jerusalem!
*****Isa 61:7 For
your shame ye shall have double; and for confusion they shall rejoice
in their portion: therefore in their land they shall possess the
double: everlasting joy shall be unto them.
Shame comes to those
who live in the captivity of sin!
Those Jews who felt
great shame because the nation they knew had been humbled and were
now in captivity.
It was not the
captivity itself that brought that shame it was the sin of being
disobedient to the Word of God and rebellion against Jehovah that had
brought that shame!
My greatest shame
comes from knowing that I allowed foolish sin to take control of my
actions!
Sin will dominate
your life if you allow it and in the end, it will take the truth of
the Lord Jesus Christ to remove that sin!
What did God promise
to Israel. The glory days for Israel as a nation had been the days of
King Solomon. Great things are happening in Israel today but there is
not much glory shown to them from this world! God has promised they
would have double the glory of that time of King Solomon. Since we
know that this has not yet taken place then it must be in the future
and we as Christians should know this will take place during the time
of the Millennial Kingdom of the Lord when King Jesus will sit on the
throne of David as did his son Solomon!
It seems that
besides the true Church, no one else in this world has any respect
for the true Jew but honor and respect is still in the future for
this great nation!
It is a fact that
Israel as a nation do not understand the wrath of this world today.
They certainly understand the wrath of the Muslim world because that
has been a like a family feud since the time of Abraham and Isaac and
Ishmael and Sarah and Keturah.
They do not
understand the rest of the world that ignores the truth and condemns
the innocent!
God says these
things will end with that little Jewish nation on top.
Shame will be
replaced with double honor.
Confusion and
reproach will be replaced with double joy and double blessings.
Rebellion will be
replaced with a double portion of the Holy Spirit.
Rejection will be
replaced with a double portion of "Grace"!
Even the land they
had in the time of Solomon will double in size.
This nation that has
been in captivity for so long will then know double the freedom and
the ending of all captivity. There will be a national "Jubilee"
in Israel.
Lev_25:9 Then shalt
thou cause the trumpet of the jubile to sound on the tenth day of the
seventh month, in the day of atonement shall ye make the trumpet
sound throughout all your land.
Lev_25:13 In the
year of this jubile ye shall return every man unto his possession.
Not just double the
joy "but everlasting joy" will return to this people!
Why? Because the
Lord loves to make wrong become right!
*****Isa 61:8 For I
the LORD love judgment, I hate robbery for burnt offering; and I will
direct their work in truth, and I will make an everlasting covenant
with them.
Judgment is the act
of determining the truth from falsehood!
God, by His own
words, loves to do this!
God loves those who
do right!
With sin in our
lives we do not know right from wrong so God gave us His technical
manual (the Bible) on the truth of right and wrong, with examples to
teach us the truth of righteousness!
God loves "justice"!
God loves "justice"
in Himself!
God loves all those
who make a practice of "justice".
Robbery then, is all
things gotten by injustice!
Robbery then, is all
things practiced with injustice even when that thing is offered to
God for a personal sacrifice!
Jer 9:23 Thus saith
the LORD, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the
mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his
riches:
Jer 9:24 But let
him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth
me, that I am the LORD which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and
righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, saith the
LORD.
God has much
patience and He has no problem in teaching us the truth, even when
this world denies His truth!
Psa 25:8 Good and
upright is the LORD: therefore will he teach sinners in the way.
Psa 25:9 The meek
will he guide in judgment: and the meek will he teach his way.
Psa 25:10 All the
paths of the LORD are mercy and truth unto such as keep his covenant
and his testimonies.
The one thing that
God insists on is that once we know the truth then we are to abide in
that truth!
Jer 32:40 And I
will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn
away from them, to do them good; but I will put my fear in their
hearts, that they shall not depart from me.
2Co 6:17 Wherefore
come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and
touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,
2Co 6:18 And will
be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith
the Lord Almighty.
One day this world
will realize that it is the family of God who are truly blessed!
*****Isa 61:9 And
their seed shall be known among the Gentiles, and their offspring
among the people: all that see them shall acknowledge them, that they
are the seed which the LORD hath blessed.
We should understand
that to be adopted into the family of God places a marker on each of
us.
When you call
yourself a Christian the entire world will look at you and the things
you do, to see if you match up to what they think a Christian should
be.
Remember it is not
what "they think" it is what "we know" but we
should still be an example of Christ and it noticeable
They will test you
many times.
They will try to
take advantage of your commitment at times.
Those neighbors will
see if you regular in your Church attendance.
They will also watch
the activities that go on around your home.
If we are truly a
Christian, (like Christ Jesus) it will be noticeable.
It is a fact that a
Christian should be noticeable in a crowd, in a good way!
God has said many
times that the little nation of Israel is His chosen people but in
truth it is those who are Christian who are God's chosen people!
Gal 6:14 But God
forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus
Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world.
Gal 6:15 For in
Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor
uncircumcision, but a new creature.
Gal 6:16 And as
many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy, and
upon the Israel of God.
Gal 6:17 From
henceforth let no man trouble me: for I bear in my body the marks of
the Lord Jesus.
Today the Christian
may be looked at as being a bunch of "do gooders" but one
day soon God's people will be honored!
All the world will
honor the blessings of Israel!
Zec 8:13 And it
shall come to pass, that as ye were a curse among the heathen, O
house of Judah, and house of Israel; so will I save you, and ye shall
be a blessing: fear not, but let your hands be strong.
All the world will
honor the blessings of the Church!
Gal 3:26 For ye are
all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.
Gal 3:27 For as
many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.
Gal 3:28 There is
neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is
neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.
Gal 3:29 And if ye
be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the
promise.
These are not just
things God says, these are things that God promises, this is His
covenant!
All people in this
world will acknowledge the blessings that God has bestowed upon His
people!
We do not have to
wait to rejoice at that time, we can rejoice now!
*****Isa 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.
We have already seen
that we are in a war and we must be dressed prepared for war!
Eph 6:11 Put on the
whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles
of the devil.
The day is soon
coming when we can exchange our garments of war.
We will wear
salvation as a garment! Remember our salvation comes by the "blood
of our Savior!
We will wear
righeousness as a robe! Remember we had no righeousness of our own,
we wear the righteousness of our Savior!
The Bridegroom in
this Scripture is the Lord Jesus Christ, our Great High Priest.
The Bride of course
is the Church, the Spouse to her wonderful Husband!
The Apostle Paul
wrote these words:
2Co_11:2 For I am
jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one
husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.
We do not have
anything to do under our own power, except to believe.
We do not have
anything to purchase for our salvation.
We not have any work
to do before our salvation, but plenty afterwards!
All these things are
in the power of the Lord to accomplish!
*****Isa 61:11 For
as the earth bringeth forth her bud, and as the garden causeth the
things that are sown in it to spring forth; so the Lord GOD will
cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the
nations.
It is the Word of
God that is the seed that will spring up to new life in the garden of
salvation.
It is mankind that
is the soil where God's Word must be sown.
It is the Church God
has chosen to be the "sower" of His seed.
It is the Lord Jesus
Christ who is the arm of the sower.
It is the Holy
Spirit that is the power of salvation and eternal life!
Just as sure as His
seed germinates, God will bring "redemption" to those who
grow in the Lord!
Psa 85:9 Surely his
salvation is nigh them that fear him; that glory may dwell in our
land.
Psa 85:10 Mercy and
truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each
other.
Psa 85:11 Truth
shall spring out of the earth; and righteousness shall look down from
heaven.
Psa 85:12 Yea, the
LORD shall give that which is good; and our land shall yield her
increase.
Psa 85:13
Righteousness shall go before him; and shall set us in the way of his
steps.
God has given us
only one job to do and then we are to enjoy His blessings until we
reach our Heavenly home!
1Pe 2:9 But ye are
a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar
people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called
you out of darkness into his marvellous light:
1Pe 2:10 Which in
time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had
not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.
When the Messiah
returns, for He has certainly come to spring forth His salvation
message, He will bring great blessings to those who love Him!
Amen!
Let's Pray!
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