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The Lord’s Faithfulness

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The Lord’s Faithfulness

9 minuten leestijd Arcering uitzetten

“Hearken unto Me, O house of Jacob, and all the remnant of the house of Israel, which are borne by Me from the belly, which are carried from the womb: and even to your old age I am He; and even to hoar hairs will I carry you: I have made, and I will bear; even I will carry, and will deliver you” (Isaiah 46:3&4).

Rev. A.M. den Boer (1929-2004)

The month of December tells us that the year has nearly passed. The end of the year speaks unto us that everything in the world changes. Moses said that the best of our lives is labor and sorrow, which is so true. The world does not give a continuing good. “We fly away,” but where are we going? We go to that place of which the angel swore that there will be no more time, no more time of grace. This means it will be eternal well or eternal woe.

John the Baptist said that the axe is laid to the root of the tree, but we do not believe this. If we die as we have been born, then it is lost forever. “Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men” (2 Corinthians 5:11a). In the last days of this year it is still possible to be converted. May the happiness and salvation of God’s people fill us with holy jealousy. The world changes, but the Lord remains the same, also in His promises for the Church, as we see in our text.

Who the Lord was

The chapter from which our text has been taken belongs to the second part of the Book of Isaiah in which we see Israel in Babylon. The promises in this text would happen in the future, but it was real for the prophet as the Lord had showed it unto him. In the previous chapter Isaiah spoke about Cyrus who, as the servant of the Lord, would punish Babylon. Cyrus was the king of Persia and Media. We read there about the fall of Babylon, the nation which had oppressed Israel, as is described in the first two verses of our chapter.

Bel is the god of worldly power, and Nebo is the god of worldly wisdom. Their images were laid upon beasts and carried away into exile. What a contrast there is between these idols and the God of Israel. The idols cannot help, but the Lord never forsakes His people. Do you see the contrast? The idols must be carried, but the Lord carries His people.

Then the Lord calls, “Hearken unto Me, O house of Jacob, and all the remnant of the house of Israel.” It is a testimony of free grace. We can find who Jacob was throughout the Bible, but we also find who the Lord was for Jacob. It is the same for all of God’s people. His eternal love is revealed in time but also His continual care for them.

May we not say the same at the end of the year? Has not the Lord been good and merciful for us? And what have we been in the past year? Does not the goodness of the Lord testify against us? In the midst of the congregations many have been sick, but many have also been healed by the Lord. Some have been at the gate of death, but the Lord has given deliverance. We know that there is also much grief among us, but has the Lord not strengthened until this very moment? We must say that the kindness of the Lord was great over us while we have multiplied sin and have forgotten the Lord days without number. But see how the Lord cares: “Hearken unto Me, O house of Jacob, and all the remnant of the house of Israel, which are borne by Me from the belly, which are carried from the womb.”

Who was the Lord for you in your personal, family, church, and school life? Must we not say that God’s goodness has been high as the heavens, for He has carried us until this moment? May it truly bring us in deep humiliation before the Lord. This does not mean that everything has gone according to our wishes and desires, but the Lord’s ways are higher than our ways. Whatever way the Lord keeps with His children, it is always with the purpose that we will come to an end with our works and seek our salvation in Another. It is a difficult way, and it is truly a mystery to be saved by grace only. Have we seen this special care of the Lord in the year that is almost past?

Who the Lord is

The word of the prophet points to Israel in Babylon. The Lord will deliver them and bring them again into the land of Canaan. He is the God of the covenant. This was not because of the good works which Israel had done but for His covenant’s sake (Jeremiah 3:16). Of this people who are wicked in themselves, the Lord says, “Is Ephraim My dear son? Is he a pleasant child? ... I do earnestly remember him still” (Jeremiah 31:20a). It is only for Christ’s sake that He will have mercy upon them.

How necessary it is to take part in this personally. The end of the year speaks of the end of our life and of the end of all things, but it also speaks of the mystery that the Lord makes all things new, which is only possible in Christ. We must be cut off from Adam and implanted in Christ. The Lord calls, “Prepare to meet thy God, O Israel” (Amos 4:12b). We have to appear before God, and we cannot exist before Him in ourselves.

The message at the end of the year is that we have to give an account of our deeds, also as nations. The Lord has given many blessings, but what have we been? As can be seen in the laws that are passed, we are going farther and farther away from the Lord and His law. We must say that the blessings which we have received are undeserved blessings. Hardly anyone is concerned about God’s honor, and no one is dressed in black and mourning because of the sins of the nation and because we are living so far away from God.

Has this become a personal burden in the past year? How many times did not the Lord call unto us in the past year? The Lord called time and again when empty places were seen among us. This was evident each month when we read The Banner of Truth. It is a call unto us: “Set thine house in order: for thou shalt die, and not live” (Isaiah 38:1c).

The Lord, in different places, also spoke to us in the realm of nature, but above all He spoke by His Word to us and our children. There have been warnings against self-righteousness from the pulpit but also urgings to jealousy in the seeking of the righteousness of Christ. Eternal damnation has been spoken about so that we would seek our refuge with the Holy One. Have these warnings done anything to us? If not, then let not the end of this year pass by without any impressions, but ask and supplicate the Lord that He show you what is needful in order to come to the end of the year as a poor sinner, begging mercy.

People of God, when we see the faithfulness of the Lord in the past year, how is it possible that we hear so little about the doings of the Lord in your life? Most of the time we are satisfied with what has taken place in former years. Did we not see any tokens of God’s goodness in this year? May the Lord yet drive us out of our self-righteousness so that we come with empty hands at the throne of grace. How profitable it would be at the end of the year. When we are truly poor, then the Lord will give food upon the way and much more. In this life there are ups and downs, but Christ is the unchangeable One for His Church. The Lord has promised that even though our sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow.

Who the Lord remains

We read in our text, “And even to your old age I am He; and even to hoar hairs will I carry you.” It is Jehovah, the unchangeable God, who is speaking these words. He will be the same for His people when they become old, also in the unknown future. God Himself never becomes old. Everything changes but not the Lord. This is also the experience of God’s children. God’s love will not change. Throughout all the ages, He is the same for His Church.

It is also His promise that the enemy will be overcome. Often His people are sifted as wheat, especially when they see their unclean garments, as Joshua the high priest did. Satan testified against him, but the Angel of the covenant brought deliverance. This was sovereign grace only and was not dependent upon his works.

In our text the Lord promises to carry, to bear, and to deliver His people. This means He will not forsake the work of His hands but also that He will not lay upon them a burden which is too heavy and that He will help in times of need. Thus it has been in the past, and so it will be also in the future. The gates of hell shall not prevail against them.

With the Lord we can go into the unknown future even though it is dark. We do not know what it will bring us, but it is certain that the Lord will not forsake His children in their strife. He has carried the Church in the past year, and as an unchangeable God, He will do so also in the year 2013, D.V.

The tender love a father has
For all his children dear,
Such love the Lord bestows on them
Who worship Him in fear.

— Psalter 278:1

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Bekijk de hele uitgave van zaterdag 1 december 2012

The Banner of Truth | 24 Pagina's

The Lord’s Faithfulness

Bekijk de hele uitgave van zaterdag 1 december 2012

The Banner of Truth | 24 Pagina's