LifeLink Devotions

Tuesday, October 17, 2023

I am still thinking about the wonder of my justification through Jesus Christ.  I pray that you also understand the magnitude and magnificence of what God accomplished through the sacrifice of Jesus. I pray the Lord is deeply touching your heart with His grace.

Then I read the last verse of Isaiah 53, and in a fresh way an old truth jumped out at me. Jesus was numbered with the transgressors – He became one of us!

Isaiah 53:12  “Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong, because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.”

Jesus, as God, became one of us so He could bear our sins and make intercession for us to the Father.

That got me to thinking about intercession – you know – when we go to God the Father and pray for someone else for their benefit. As I was contemplating that from the perspective of Jesus making intercession for us, the Lord put a clear thought in my mind – True intercession requires total identification.

This was the case with Jesus, who now sits at the right hand of the Father and intercedes with Him on our behalf. Romans 8:34 says, “Christ Jesus, who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.” That is amazing – Jesus constantly talks to the Father on our behalf. In fact, the apostle John says Jesus is our advocate, defending us to the Father even when we sin. “My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.” (1 John 2:1-2)

But we must acknowledge that He is qualified to do that because He first totally identified with us in every way. Take the time to read and absorb these precious truths:

• “For this reason he had to be made like his brothers in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for  the sins of the people.   Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.” (Hebrews 2:17-18)
• “Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens,  Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess.   For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin.   Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” (Hebrews 4:14-16)

Jesus is able to intercede for us because He identifies with us. He identified with our sin. He identifies with our suffering. He identifies with our needs. He identifies with our circumstances and experiences. Therefore, He can intercede on our behalf to the Father. He does this through His indwelling Holy Spirit. The Apostle Paul says, ”In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will.” (Romans 8:26-27)

Just think, our intercessor not only knows us completely, but also knows the heart and mind of God completely. He identifies with both, which makes Him the perfect intercessor and able to meet our every need. That’s what Romans 8:28 means when Paul says, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” 

The truth of Jesus as my intercessor also challenges me when it comes to how I pray for others. Can I really say I am interceding to the Father on behalf of someone if I have not first identified with the person for whom I am praying? Can I truly intercede if I do not fully, as much as is humanly possible, identify with the Father’s heart for that person? How would my prayer life be changed if I really identified with others when I promised to pray for them?

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions

Monday, October 16, 2023

Isaiah 53:11  “After the suffering of his soul, he will see the light of life and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities.”

On one of my many trips to the Philippines, my dear friend Glenn and I developed a little joke between us. It was actually more than a joke – it was a loving admonition. It involved the use of one word. In our conversations with each other or with other people, when we would hear any form of rationalization or defense of behavior, we would simply look at each other and say, “justification.”

I am amazed at how many times we had to say that to each other. I am embarrassed to admit how many times in any given day I attempt to justify my behavior or my choices. I think you can agree with me that we have become expert justifiers of self.

How much justification of materialism will take place between now and Christmas? How much justification of gluttony will take place at Thanksgiving? How much justification of setting aside our personal quiet time with our Lord because we are so busy is going on right now?

Justification simply means to declare innocence. The foundation for justification is laid out in the Old Testament law, where God declares that He will never punish the innocent or let the guilty off the hook.  God says. “I will not acquit the guilty.” (Exodus 23:7) When King Solomon dedicated the temple he had built for the Lord, he reviewed the laws that would be upheld in the spiritually revived nation. “Judge between your servants, condemning the guilty and bringing down on his own head what he has done.” (1 Kings 8:31-32)

Justification is the declaration of innocence. But notice that in the Old Testament law, only the truly innocent were declared innocent. Justification was simply the acknowledgment of what was already true.

In contrast to that, consider the justification that was provided by Jesus Christ through His death on the cross. He has declared the guilty to be innocent! The Righteous Servant has born the iniquities of the unrighteous sinner. The innocent One has taken the punishment of the guilty.

But the guilty are not justified automatically. It is only by faith. The guilty cannot be declared innocent by earning it through obedience to the law. Read this carefully. “A man is not justified by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by observing the law, because by observing the law no one will be justified.” (Galatians 2:16) The law cannot declare the guilty to be innocent nor can it declare the innocent to be guilty.

But what the law does do is lead us to faith in Jesus Christ’s work on the cross so that He can declare us to be innocent. “So the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith.” (Galatians 3:24) It is by faith alone in the finished work of Christ that we are justified. The Apostle Paul specifically states this in Romans 5 where we read, “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.”

How marvelous! How magnificent! How incredible! Jesus the Innocent One bore the sins of all the guilty, and those who have faith in Him are eternally declared innocent. Oh the splendor of justification!

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions

Friday, October 13, 2023

For today, I am conflicted with too many choices. But in seven days my mind will be focused on just one thing – deer hunting with my grandson. I cherish the memories I have of hunting with him. But even more I cherish the time I get to spend with Jesus in the quiet hours of sitting on my tree stand.

One morning I rose from bed at 4:20 A.M. to prepare for a day of deer hunting. I was in the car on the way to my tree stand at 5:00. When I got to within six miles of the hunting land, it started to snow. It snowed hard, and it was wet. I put on all my hunting clothes and started walking the 500 yards through the swamp and forest to my stand. The snow was so heavy that the flashlight did nothing but reflect into my eyes, so I had to go by memory, which isn’t so good. Somewhere in the thicket I took a wrong turn and ended up looking for my stand for over 20 minutes. I didn’t really make any progress until I waited for a little of the natural light to appear. When I got there, I was wet and sweaty; not a good combination when the plan is to spend several hours sitting still in a tree.

As the snow continued to fall everything became white. Deer hunters love the snow, and I’m no different. It makes the deer so much easier to see, and I saw deer. I didn’t shoot any of them, making the decision to let each one grow up a little more, but it was so great to see them and watch their movements as they related to each other during this breeding season. Up until this time I hadn’t seen a deer, but when everything was white, I was able to see what I was pursuing.

As I sat in the tree for those five hours I pondered the truths that had been revealed to me in Isaiah 53:11 which I had read on my phone while waiting for the deer to appear.

Isaiah 53:11  “After the suffering of his soul, he will see the light of life and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities.”

• I thought about how long we wander around in the thickets of our circumstances looking for the tree from which we will have a better vantage point on life and be able to accomplish our goals. We think we know the way, but we constantly make the wrong turns and get lost.
• We get angry that we can’t find our way because the snow keeps blinding us with the reflection of our own light. We know we need the snow, but we are mad at it at the same time because it increases awareness of our lost condition.
• When we return to the place where we made the wrong turn, God is there waiting to reveal His way to us, and when we take it, we cease to be lost. We get to use His light, not ours, and that brings us to life.
• When we let the snow cover everything in us and around us, we finally get to see what we’ve been looking for. The pursuit of our heart becomes obvious.

Simple thoughts, but I trust the Lord will use them to help you understand how great it is to know that our sins are forgiven, and through the blood of Jesus Christ we have been washed from all unrighteousness and are now whiter than snow.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions

Thursday, October 12, 2023

How could He do that? He was right; they were wrong. It was injustice to the max. He was falsely accused and unjustly abused. He was tortured without truth. Yet not once did He defend Himself, with words or with actions. How could He do that?

Isaiah 53:7-8a  “He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth. By oppression and judgment he was taken away.”     

In my flesh, I can’t do what Jesus did. My first response to criticism is self-protection. My love for self motivates my response to threats against my value and worth. My pride protects what I believe are my rights. My words and my actions are defense mechanisms to justify my behavior. It appears that I would rather see others suffer from the expression of my pride than to experience any personal pain that might be caused by being humble. How foolish I am, for ultimately the pain I am seeking to avoid is magnified many times over by my pride.

In my spirit, under the influence of God’s Spirit, I have discovered how Jesus could do what He did. It is a simple answer, but oh so difficult to put into practice. The answer is found in Hebrews 12:2, which says, “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.”

Jesus understood and accepted the higher purpose of what was happening. He did not have his heart focused on the immediate, but the eternal. That is how He could endure the opposition of sinful men and scorn the shame of the cross – He saw the joy and glory that was to come, and He chose it as His own.

I know that my fleshly response to criticism and correction is completely driven by my focus on the immediate need for approval and acceptance which I wrongly believe cannot be granted if I am found guilty. I know that my pride pushes me to protect my rights because I have given them far too much value in determining my worth. I know my love for self causes me to do anything I can to avoid pain in the present because my heart is fixed on happiness rather than joy. I know that this is all true of me, and you, and it would destroy us were it not for the grace of God.

But praise God our flesh does not control us. Our eyes are fixed on Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who was oppressed and afflicted unjustly, and was led away by oppression and judgment to suffer the shame of the cross. How could He do it? Because He saw us in our sin, and His love for us overcame any obstacle to saving us. He was completely focused on the higher purpose.

Our goal today is to stay focused on God’s higher purpose. No more living for the immediate. No more unbelief in the joy of eternity which is manifested in the avoidance of pain today. No more self-protection by resisting oppression. No more defense mechanisms against injustice. No more exaltation of my rights. There will only be the quiet response of Jesus that shows the world that our eyes are fixed on eternal joy for which we are completely qualified in Christ. And as the world observes a life so lived, may they ask, “How can he do that?”

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions

Wednesday, October 11, 2023

Many years ago, after a mission service, the preacher of the evening was hurrying away to catch a late train back to his home. He had just three minutes to get through the station when he heard a man calling out to him as he ran after him.

“Oh, sir,” he said breathlessly as he came up, “can you help me? I am very anxious about my salvation.”

“Well,” replied the preacher, “my train is just here, and it is the last one; but look up Isaiah 53:6. Go in at the first ‘all’ and go out at the last ‘all.’ Good night.”

The man stood staring at him until he had disappeared into the station and then he muttered, “Go in at the first ‘all’ and go out at the last ‘all.’ What does he mean?”

When he arrived home he took down his Bible and turning to Isaiah 53:6 read these words, “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.”

“Go in at the first ‘all,’ ” he repeated. “ ‘All we like sheep have gone astray.’ I am to go in with that ‘all.’ Yes, I see. It means that I am one of those who have gone astray. I am one who has turned to my own way. I am one who is responsible for my own sin. I am one who deserves to be punished for my sin.”

“And go out with the last ‘all.’ ‘The Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.’ I see. God has chosen to punish Jesus Christ for my sin. Yes, I am to go out free with those whose iniquity has been laid on Christ.”

At last he realized his individual lost condition and his individual redemption available through the work of Jesus Christ on the cross.

“O praise the One who paid my debt and raised this life up from the dead!”

Jesus paid it all, all to Him I owe; sin had left a crimson stain, He washed it white as snow!

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions

Tuesday, October 10, 2023

We live in an “I win, you lose” world. Ever since the fall of man into sin in the Garden of Eden human nature has been corrupted with an exaggeration of self, resulting in a minimizing of others. When things go wrong for us, we defend our own positions by blaming others for what went wrong.

Even secular business leaders understand this flaw in human nature. While they may not understand its cause, they know how to define its existence. Luke Iorio is the CEO of the Institute for Professional Excellence in Coaching (iPEC). Recently, in a response to a blog about the blame game we play,  he said, “ Individuals caught up in the blame game…tend to put themselves first and give little credit to others…We want to look good, look smart, look competent and that can come at the sacrifice of taking responsibility.”  

Whether we consciously think about it or not, we all have determined our own criteria for measuring our personal value and worth. Some use the standard of financial success. Others choose professional status. Still others claim that job performance determines worth. Far too many choose to accept failure in all the above areas and turn to other self-declared measures of human value, like sex, or they give up completely and get lost in a world of drugs and alcohol to minimize the pain of failure.

One thing is true of all these people – when confronted with any failure, they immediately seek to protect whatever level of value they claim for themselves by transferring blame to someone else. If the project fails, then it was the project’s fault, but not mine. If the relationship fails, it must be something they did. If my position is threatened, it must be the fault of the people in charge for not truly understanding my worth and making a bad decision. How quickly the blame game starts.

 It was no different in Jesus’ day. The religious leaders were threatened by the truth Jesus proclaimed. Their comfort zones became uncomfortable. They had built their reputations using religion as an expression of pride through self-advancement and self-valuation, yet it was all declared unrighteous by the Son of God.

So what did they do? They sought to find fault with Him. They conspired to produce falsified testimony that would have Him declared a heretic and sentenced to death. They shifted the blame to the blameless to justify His death. They even went so far as to say that His punishment was justly imposed by God because of His sin. All this to solidify their own positions and worth. They played the blame game to perfection.

Isaiah 53:4b  “…yet we considered Him stricken by God, smitten by Him and afflicted.”

Unfortunately, the result of the blame game is always the same – self-destruction. Because God is righteous and just, the blame always settles on the guilty. Someday, somewhere, somehow, whether in this life or for certain in eternity, the truth will be revealed and the price will be paid.

In this life, people who play the blame game hoping to benefit from it actually suffer from it. Nathanael Fast is an assistant professor of Management and Organization at the University of Southern California’s Marshall School of Business and he states in the Harvard Business Review that “playing the blame game never works. A deep set of research shows that people who blame others for their mistakes lose status, learn less, and perform worse relative to those who own up to their mistakes.”  

But the bigger issue is what will happen before the throne of God when the truth about our lives is declared. It is not for earthly benefits that we serve Jesus. We do so because we love Him and have found our value completely from Him. “He was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His wounds we are healed.” (Isaiah 53:5) We are healed from the blame game, because the blame has already been paid for.

So take responsibility for your actions; they do not determine your worth. Your worth and value were bought and paid for on the cross when Jesus died for your sins. Accept His forgiveness and be healed.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions

Monday, October 9, 2023

Isaiah 53:4  “Surely He took our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered Him stricken by God, smitten by Him and afflicted.”

I want you to share a testimony that was written by a young woman in one of my previous churches. This is why Jesus suffered and died!

“In my past, I viewed God’s salvation much differently than I do now.  Before, I saw this salvation as simply a nice thing to have.  It was like a person who owned a car, the car being their “salvation”.  A car makes a person’s life easier and more comfortable; people can find a taxi or walk or ride their bike to work/school, etc.  A car only makes it all easier.  It’s not vital to the person’s existence, but it makes their life much easier.  This is the way that I viewed salvation.  Growing up, my parents did their best to make sure I went to church and that I had Christian friends so that I would be able to experience God’s love the way that they had.  I lived a nice life growing up under these standards, but I did not think that having God in my life was vital.  This is when I discovered that the world is a fun place to explore, and I indulged myself in fun things of the world.  I saw no harm in any of it, as I was still excelling at school and work. 

“Exactly when I thought I had my whole future under control is when everything seemed to fall apart.  I did not understand at the time that this was because I am not in control of my life; God has a very specific plan for me.  Part of his plan is that I surrender my whole self to Him.  This last year I tried to make God an addition to what I could already do for myself.  I was partaking in worldly pleasures to make myself “happy” and then I would occasionally go to church to “make God happy” as well. 

“It wasn’t until that day in March that I realized God was knocking on the door of my heart asking me “do you want to get well?”  I realized it on this day because this is when I found out that I was pregnant.  When I found out, I didn’t know what I was supposed to do.  I had not factored this into my future that I had such control over before, and certainly this was not a situation I had ever pictured myself in before.  Not only was I shocked, being that I am single I hadn’t felt more alone in my whole life.  And so God knocked on the door of my heart again and asked me “do you want to get well?  If so, I have a gift for you!”

“For the first time in my life, God revealed himself to me in a way he never had before.  He was reaching out to me, a meek sinner who had never given him the time of day before.   He showed me that even though I had sinned against him, He could turn it into something beautiful.  All I had to do was take one step towards him and he came running the rest of the way to me.  God took my sins that I was holding onto and showed me grace.  I realized that having the salvation of Jesus Christ is not a good addition to your life – it is vital to your existence.  My life means nothing without God as the center. 

“Ever since I surrendered my future and my whole being to God, my relationship with Him has grown so much.  Every day I marvel at His grace that he has given to me.  He has never been so evident in my life before and I’m amazed at the blessings he has given to me.  I thank Him every day for this church and the meaningful relationships I am building.  And now, I’m carrying a lifetime reminder of His grace that made me well when everything was falling apart.”

HAS JESUS SAVED YOU?

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions

Friday, October 6, 2023

I really don’t like to think about it. I’d rather not be reminded of it. Every ounce of self-protection in me screams for pain like that to be avoided. My flesh tries to convince me that I will never allow it to happen again, and in far too many cases the flesh wins. But the Spirit of the Living God in me says it will happen, and in fact it must happen to experience the fullness of Christ’s resurrection power.

This pain is caused by one thing – rejection: being despised by people for what I do, what I say, or just for who I am. It’s horrible. I’ve experienced it and I hate it. I have had people hide their faces from me, and it cuts to the core of my being. Sometimes my actions and words demanded correction, but never did I expect the people who were supposed to be my brothers and sisters in Christ to treat me so hatefully. It’s one thing to be rejected because of an unrepentant heart, but never should a person be despised by other Christ-followers just because we believe they have wronged us.

I’m not sure we understand how selfish it is to focus on how we have been wronged. It’s downright dysfunctional and sinful to focus on our hurts and then respond with hate towards the person who hurt us. Jesus is the proof of that.

Isaiah 53:3  “He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.”

He came in love to save the sinful souls of mankind. They didn’t like what He said. They took His words as threats to their comfort zones. They despised Him and rejected Him. He suffered at their hands. He was hurt by them. Yet He never responded with hate. In fact, during the worst rejection anyone could ever experience, while hanging on the cross, He asked His Father to forgive them.

We have all been hurt. We have all been rejected. We may have experienced the sorrow and pain of being considered dead to someone. Being despised is horrible. But allowing their treatment of us to overwhelm the Spirit of God in us so that we return the hurt eventually causes more pain than the original rejection. When we suffer at the hands of men, we must focus on the fact that we are secure in the hand of God.

My friends, the day has arrived – the day Jesus promised would come – when at the hands of secular culture those who stand for the truth will be despised and rejected. We have three choices:

1. We can stop standing for the truth and compromise our lives with the world so the culture will accept us;
2. We can return hurt for hurt, and do harm to those who harm us;
3. We can consider ourselves blessed to suffer as Christ did and return love to whomever rejects us.

Just think of the emotional energy we will conserve if we choose option #3. Imagine the physical stress that will be avoided by choosing option #3. But greater than both of those combined is the fact that by choosing option #3, we will be avoiding spiritual darkness in our lives and keeping our enemy the Devil from establishing a foothold in our lives.

Choose Option #3. No longer allow love for self to dictate responses to people’s treatment of you. No longer allow our responses to be acts of vengeance. No longer model to others that we love self most by even secretly wishing that something bad will happen to those who hurt us. NO…choose this day and every day to stand with our Savior, secure in His eternal acceptance of us, knowing that He will never reject us, and that we will experience more of His resurrection power every time we suffer as He did. May everyone who ever hurts us or rejects us see only the love of God in us.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions

Thursday, October 5, 2023

From the beginning of human existence on the earth when God created Adam and Eve, we have been attracted to people and things that we believe add value to our lives. It doesn’t matter what the environment is like or what the influence of culture or society is, we have been given the God-image-bearing right of choice, and we tend to use it to serve ourselves. Just look at the historical record of what happened in the perfect environment of the Garden of Eden –

“When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.” (Genesis 3:6)

Eve did what we all do; she took her eyes off her perfect identity in Christ and began looking at what was humanly attractive.

Here’s what the Lord is teaching me about this:

• I have a hard time not wanting God to simply make this life better.
• The reason for that is that I don’t really believe that my spiritual life is more important than my physical life.
• God promised to take care of me physically if I put my spiritual life ahead of everything else.
• I must not really trust Him if I keep trying to provide for my physical needs ahead of my spiritual.
• God knew that we would all be in that same condition when He sent Jesus to be our Savior, so the human form Jesus took was totally unattractive to us, and the lifestyle He modeled and taught was unappealing to most.

Isaiah 53:2  “He grew up before Him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to Him, nothing in His appearance that we should desire Him.”

• There was nothing about the appearance, personality, or leadership style of Jesus that made people instantly want what He had.
• When the people of Israel wanted their first King, they chose Saul because he was the most physically qualified and attractive. Look where that got them.
• The crowds that followed Jesus did so primarily because they thought He would bring them the physical and political benefits they wanted. They were, like us, focused on the immediate and not on the eternal.
• The ENTIRE focus of the ministry of Jesus was to provide spiritual restoration and deliverance from the bondage of the physical. That is the ultimate goal of redemption, and all of creation cries out for that day when we will be delivered from the physical – so why do we spend so much time trying to nurture and strengthen what God wants destroyed?
• If we are attracted to Jesus because of what we think He offers us in this life, then we are missing the point of salvation. There are far too many teachers and preachers who proclaim that God and Jesus are your tickets to human wealth and health, when from the very beginning of His introduction to us God says that Jesus would come with absolutely no human attraction and that His purpose would be completely spiritual. All who come to Him for salvation must come on those terms.

I wonder what would be different about American Christian churches if we all understood this. I wonder how it would change our lives.

Pastor John

LifeLink Devotions

Wednesday, October 4, 2023

Have you ever thought about the correlation between the Gospel and Rambo? In case you don’t know who that is, he was a fictional movie character played by Sylvester Stallone.  Seems like a stretch of a metaphor, doesn’t it? But hang on.

A group of American soldiers are being held in a Vietnamese prison camp long after the war was supposed to be over. They knew their country loved them and wanted them back, but they had long ago given up hope that anyone was really looking for them. In their hearts they wanted to believe that no man would be left behind, but time had diminished their hope.

Finally, one man discovers evidence that there are soldiers being held prisoner and questions why no one is going to get them. The government officials are covering it up.  He is finally allowed to organize a mission and allowed to think that he will succeed, but behind the scenes the officials are plotting his failure.

Rambo works his way through the jungle to the place where the enemy holds the prisoners captive. It is heavily guarded and totally secluded. The conditions are horrible, and the prisoners are suffering severely. When the hero reveals himself to them, they refuse to believe that he has come for them, or that he has any power to rescue them. As a result, he gets caught by the enemy and tortured.

However, he escapes from his tormentors and begins an attack on the enemy that results in the destruction of the enemy camp and the release of the prisoners. As more and more explosions occur, more and more hope grows in the hearts of the prisoners until finally, when Rambo unlocks their cages, they embrace him and follow him to freedom. There would be more battles on the way out of the jungle, but they all now believed that they were going to make it.

Isaiah 53:1 “Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?”

Now, look at the story of the Gospel. For centuries the nation of Israel had been in bondage. There was hope based on their heritage and the prophecies declaring that the Messiah was coming and that He would set them all free. But time had diminished their hope. When He arrived the government officials denied who He was and convinced the people He had no real power to rescue them. They rejected Him and turned Him over to the enemy and He was tortured.

However, He overcame the torture and destroyed the enemy, setting the captives free and giving them a living hope. There are still battles being fought, but the power of the enemy has been overcome, and the Messiah is leading us to victory. Unfortunately, there are many who remain in prison because they choose not to believe.

As I said, it’s a stretch of a metaphor, but it serves to remind us of the answer to the question posed by Isaiah – “Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?”

The answer?

ME!

And you too, if you have accepted what Jesus the Messiah did on the cross to pay the price for your freedom.

Pastor John