THE HERITAGE OF THE SERVANTS
Introduction:
God loves you and knows everything about you. We also love God but we know very little about Him. I firmly believe that God wants to reveal Himself to you.
Some things we know, some things we don’t…some things are difficult to understand about God. And so, we stay clear of those issues. As an example, the ‘wrath of God’.
The ‘wrath of God’ is much too frightening or too negative for some of us to ever want to sit down and study. Let me see if I can be of help to you on this subject.
Text: Isaiah 54:7 thru 10; 17(b)
Let’s look at a few things that have been misinterpreted about God’s nature. For example:
What exactly does “wrath” mean?
There are two types of wrath.
1.The wrath of mankind:
This is the emotion that most of us have to deal with everyday. Typically, it is an emotional response to something that we have no control over. Something may happen to us that we did no want to happen.
More often than not, the wrath in our heart will cause us to overreact.
If we become upset enough, we may become jealous or envious over something. Wrath may cause us to seek revenge (to one degree or another) with someone else. (When we should be seeking the Lord.)
This is never a healthy, or good thing, for any of us to experience.
As a result of mankind’s wrath/anger, we may commit a wrongdoing (crime). This will complicates our life.
Perhaps you did not think you have wrath in your heart.
The Bible says you do…
Ephesians 4:26 says,
"Be angry, and do not sin": do not let the sun go down on your wrath, nor give place to the devil.
For mankind, anger is a normal emotion. Anger means we are exasperated and frustrated with something. But wrath means we have rage, and it is not something God has planned for our lives.
2. The wrath of God:
This is quite different. God’s wrath happens whenever things do not go His way. And we all know that God will always have His way. His way is always in our best interest both in the short term and in the long.
(God is very jealous for our attention. He created us to give Him lots of attention.)
What does the “wrath of God” mean to those who oppose Him? We will answer this, but first put a bookmark in our first text (Isa. 54)
Text: Nahum 1:2-6
Apparently, we do not want God to pour out His wrath/fury on us.
And He won’t as long as we are not His enemies.
Those who oppose God and His ways will face eternal judgment and wrath.
We must fear and dread the wrath of God’s judgment of sin.
Jesus spoke specifically in Matthew 3:7 & Luke 3:7 of the “wrath to come”.
And later, it was the Apostle Paul who declared to the Thessalonians in 1:10 that it would be Jesus who would “deliver us from the wrath to come.”
Many of the false teachers, of today, want us to believe two things –
1. God is not a god of anger and wrath.
2. After we die there will be a heaven awaiting for anybody and everybody.
That is simply not true.
Charles Spurgeon said it well,
“The wrath of God does not end with the death (of the sinner).”
If we read our Bible plainly we will see that the wrath of God’s Judgment is eternal and will never end.
God’s wrath is destined for the enemies of God and for those who reject His plan of salvation.
On the other hand, we find some Good News written to us in our text.
(Now go back to your bookmark). Isaiah 54 gives us a promise that we can shout about. For those who surrender their lives, the bottom line for Isaiah 54 is this -
As Servants of the Lord, God will never be angry with you, nor will He ever rebuke you.
As fierce as God’s wrath is we can easily see this is the “Goodness and Faithfulness of God”.
Question:
What does the “goodness and faithfulness of God” mean to the saint?
God has –
1. Verse 7 says - “Great Mercies (and) He will gather you (KJV) bring you back (NIV)
2. Verse 8 says - “Everlasting Kindness (and) He will have Mercy/Compassion on you
3. Verse 10 says - “His Kindness and Goodness will never depart you
4. Verse 10 says - “His Covenant of Peace will never be removed from you
If you belong to God, He truly has Goodness planned for you.
By this we know that God is also faithful to His people.
He is full of goodness and faithfulness.
At first glance, (in the NKJV) you may have misread verse 7. But the KJV and the ASV have a better reading.
They pose this verse as a question,
For a small moment have I forsaken thee???
And may I ask this question to you?
Has God ever forsaken you?
I think not!
Verse 10 tells us that God’s “kindness will never depart from you.”
There are times when our emotions try to tell us that God has forsaken us.
Your enemy may want you to believe this –
Psalm 71:10-11
10 For my enemies speak against me; and those who lie in wait for my life take counsel together,
11 Saying, "God has forsaken him; pursue and take him, for there is none to deliver him."
My God is full of Goodness and He is Faithful to His people. He will never forsake you.
Even church folks may tell you and/or make you think that you have failed God so many times that He will have no choice but to forsake you.
Isaiah 49:14-15
14 But Zion (Church folks) said, "The LORD has forsaken me, and my Lord has forgotten me."
15 "Can a woman forget her nursing child, and not have compassion on the son of her womb? Surely they may forget, yet I will not forget you.
My God will never forsake you.
He is full of Goodness and He is Faithful to His people whom He loves.
Covenant of Noah –
Verse 9 says that there will never be another flood on this planet. Likewise if you are washed in the blood of the Lamb, there will never be any judgment (ever) for your sins.
And likewise neither should we have judgment for the sins of others.
We are to have the “goodness and kindness” that God has.
We are to live our lives for others in the Covenant of Noah. Which is to say, with the goodness and faithfulness of Jehovah God.
Covenant of Peace –
Verse 10 says that there will be eternal peace with God.
We are to be faithful with the peace He has given to us and share it with everyone we know or meet.
Having said all of that, let us remember that we have been created in His image and that we are to be like Him.
God says that we are to possess goodness and faithfulness in our lives.
(These are 2 of the Fruits of the Holy Spirit.)
We are baptized in the Holy Spirit for this reason. With these two fruit of the Spirit, we have what is needed to show others what the Lord has for them. We have been blessed with God’s goodness and His faithfulness.
God’s goodness is proven to us when He redeems us, and makes us holy.
The question we must ask ourselves is “now that we know it,
do we show it?”
We show God’s goodness when we –
1. Do things for God and others out of generosity, and not obligation.
2. Are used of God as an individual, and not just part of the group.
3. Experience the freedom and liberty of having a relationship with Christ, and not just a member of a denomination.
4. Demonstrate to others our concern and compassion for all of their needs.
God is faithful. We know this to be true because of how He never gives up on us. No matter how many times we fail Him. God is strong with His faithfulness, and we are so weak.
But let’s be honest with one another. Our faithfulness is dwarfed by our flesh. We may desire to be more faithful with God and others, but continue to fail.
We should not be surprised that God is so much more faithful than we are. In this lifetime, we will never measure up to the faithfulness He has for us.
We are mere humans, but we can experience the faithfulness of God when we are filled to overflowing with the Holy Spirit.
Closing:
We show God’s faithfulness when we-
• Are DEVOTED with our relationship with Christ.
• Are DEVOTED with our commitment to being the Servant He has called us to be.
We know that God only has one purpose, one direction for His goodness and faithfulness.
He doesn’t share/demonstrate His Goodness and His Faithfulness for anything, or anyone else, but for His people. We are the only recipients of His goodness and faithfulness.
And folks, I have to tell you He has a lot of GOODNESS AND FAITHFULNESS just for you.
