Future Events that will Impact Your Life

Isaiah 51:4-6

These verses are so full of information you may want to pay attention, in that God is announcing future events, big events that will impact your life.  First, God is reminding all of us and He is addressing Israel of a promise He made to Abraham, that Abraham’s descendants will bless all nations.  In the fifth verse, “My righteousness draws near, my salvation has gone out, and my arms will judge the peoples; the coastlands hope for me, and for my arm they wait.” (Isaiah 51:5 ESV)  This prophecy is 700 years before the birth of Christ, and yet we are told often in Scripture that salvation is found in no one but Christ.  Acts 4:12, makes this very clear: "And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved." 

A large number of people in and outside of the church are making plans for heaven based on their actions or goodness, and not on Christ.  So the question must be asked, can one enter heaven by some other way?  I find no option in God’s word for a back door into heaven, what I find is 1 John 5:11-12, “And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.”  John 3:36, “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.”

God announced His Salvation hundreds of years before Jesus stepped out of heaven and showed up on planet earth in a manger born of a virgin named Mary.  And from the beginning God has sent word of His salvation by men who risked everything to warn nations, and people that the road they are on has a bridge out.  And the question must be ask of me, what kind of a man lets someone parish when they are on that road to destruction and in the darkness of life, found safe passage?  Many of you have put your trust in other things, and the one Jesus calls the thief in John 10:10, the one who has come to kill, steal, and destroy has told you not to worry for God is kind and good and would not do those nasty things the Bible and Jesus says He will do.

Let me share a tidbit from Lee Strobel’s book  “The Case for Christ” with you.  If you have not read the book it is a very informative read; Lee is interviewing Biblical scholars like Donald A. Carson, PH.D, at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, and asking some very hard questions.  The subject Lee is addressing with Dr. Carson is hell, and Lee posed this question from the agnostic Charles Templeton: “How could a loving Heavenly Father create an endless hell and, over the centuries, consign millions of people to it because they do not or cannot or will not accept certain religious beliefs?”  The answer from Dr. Carson is just an excerpt I have not typed the whole conversation. “First of all,” he said, “I’m not sure that God simply casts people into hell because they don’t accept certain beliefs.”  Carson goes on to give the example of Adam and Eve and how they looked forward to being with God and they lived to do His will, and they were rightly related to him and they’re rightly related to each other, that is till they sinned.  Sin made them, as it has us, rebel against God’s authority, and we became in our thinking the center of our universe.  Frank Sinatra’s song “I did it my way” became the theme of mankind.  Carson states that all the things we call social pathologies’ – war, rape, bitterness, nurtured envies, secret jealousies, pride, inferiority complexes – are bound up in the first instance with the fact that we’re not rightly related with God.  The consequence is that people get hurt.  Should God do nothing about sin, what about the Holocaust?

Carson goes on to state; hell is not filled with good old boys who missed the way and God isn’t gentle enough or good enough to let them out.  From page 222, Carson words, “It’s filled with people who, for all eternity, still want to be at the center of the universe and who persist in their God-defying rebellion.  “What is God to do?  If He says it doesn’t matter to Him God is no longer a God to be admired.  He’s either amoral or positively creepy.  For him to act in any other way in the face of such blatant defiance would be to reduce God himself.”  This has become too long so I will end with this statement: “Justice is not always done in this world; we see that every day.  But on the Last Day it will be done for all to see.  And no one will be able to complain by saying, ‘This isn’t fair.’ ”

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

A Righteousness not of my doing

Isaiah 51:2

We who are righteous; before any of my family or close friends who know me well ask the question, has Bob lost his mind, surely he does not see himself as righteous?  Listen to these words of the apostle Paul; “Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith—that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.”  (Philippians 3:8-11 ESV)  The same message was also sent to the church at Corinth; “For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”  Often, my actions are not righteous, and often my feeler tells me I’m not, but God is greater than all and He calls me righteous because of my faith in the blood that was shed to cover my sins and yours, Jesus is my righteousness.
Isaiah began this chapter or part of his letter or statement in verse one for the righteous to listen to those who seek the LORD, and in the second verse he reminds us to recall what God has done for Israel.  These are his words; “Look to Abraham your father and to Sarah who bore you; for he was but one when I called him, that I might bless him and multiply him.” (Isaiah 51:2 ESV)

As a follower of Christ we are called to remember who bore us, not mother or dad, but Jesus 

bore us out of the grasp of sin.  And Isaiah’s words should move within our minds to our 

calling, for each of us is called to introduce others to Christ.  It is a holy calling to those who 

have tasted the hope that is found only in Christ, and I’m sure you remember the words of 

Jesus after His resurrection; “And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven 

and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations,

 baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 

teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you 

always, to the end of the age.”  (Matthew 28:18-20 ESV)  

As followers of Christ we should say, look to Christ who bought us by His blood and broken

 body out of sin, for He is the pure Lamb of God who has taken away the sins of all who by 

grace and faith turn to Him.  And our calling is to allow Christ in us to bring others to Him.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Help with Listening

Isaiah 51:1

               “Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness, you who seek the LORD: look to the rock from which you were hewn, and to the quarry from which you were dug.” (Isaiah 51:1 ESV)

Todd Smith, in his book “Little things Matter” lists ten things that make you a better listener, and my skills and maybe yours are in need of help when it comes to being good listeners.  Todd tells us about what to look for to improve our listening skills: 1) Make Eye Contact—The first step in being a good listener is to make eye contact with people while they are talking.  2) Be Present—I must admit I have been accused at times by my wife of not being present when she is talking even though I am looking into her eyes. These are times when my mind is thinking about something other than what she is talking about.  3) Give NO Sign that You are Ready to Respond—When you are listening, don’t give any clues that you are ready to respond. Don’t point your finger and don’t open your mouth. When I talk to people and I see that they are waiting on pins and needles to respond, I know they are no longer listening because they are more concerned with how they are going to respond than with listening to what I have to say.  I need to put a star by this; it is one of my worst habits.  4) Wait Two Seconds to Respond—During a conversation, wait two seconds after the person finishes speaking to make sure they have finished their thought. 5) Care About What Is Being Said—This is where my dad stands out from most people. When he listens he really cares about what is being said, even if it’s a subject that doesn’t interest him. He tells me that this is his way of showing people that what they say is important and that they are valuable individuals.  6) Listen For The Message Within The Message—Another one of my dad’s skills is to listen for the message within the message. By listening intently, he is able to grasp the topic and move more effectively into the conversation. 7) Respond By Asking Questions—When you ask people questions during a conversation, you show a sincere interest in the topic. My dad says that most people operate at “the feeling level”, rather than “the thinking level”, even if they are good thinkers. I agree! My Dad’s favorite question is to ask how they FEEL about the subject they have raised.

In my desire to finish strong, it has become clear that being a good listener is essential, for it is clear in Isaiah 51:1, these folks were pursuing righteousness and seeking the LORD, if that was not true Isaiah would not have said so.  Listening is an acquired habit, it takes practice, and it also puts the one speaking as the more important.  1) So how does one make eye contact with God?  If you are a follower of Christ, a key belief is: “Christ in me the hope of Glory” found in Colossians 1:27b.  So when you look into the mirror are you not making contact with God, as you fellowship with other believers are you not making contact with Christ?  2) Being present is so important as a listener, as one who reads the Bible, or who goes to church.  It requires more than reading or sitting in a pew, it requires setting your mind and heart on listening and acting on what is being read, or heard. 3 & 4) How rude it is to interrupt a person before they are finished and yet often we do this with the Holy Spirit, so it seems only wise to wait two seconds before responding to what God is saying to you.  5) Do you care about what God is saying to you, and remember God had to speak through a donkey to get a man’s ear.  6) Often I’ve missed the message inside the message; we should be quick to ask the Holy Spirit to help us understand what is God’s will for us.  7) And last, but of the greatest importance is ask questions, seek answers, for Jesus did not leave us without a Helper, One who will lead us into all truth.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

A Culture of Self

Isaiah 50:5-10

This fear eats at me, that we who have been awakened, our ears have heard, as those who 

are taught and who even teach and encourage the weary, are not prepared for those who will 

come against us.  Many in our culture fear any man who follows Christ; they are a threat to an 

immoral culture.  A culture that has goals to live independently of all authority, especially 

God’s, a culture of self.  It often comes not from the worldly, but from the religious, it also 

comes from those within your family.  So read verses five and six, the Servant is identified 

with Christ, though at the time of this writing the audience probably identified the Servant as 

Israel. (Thoughts taken from page 1207 HCSB)  “The Lord GOD has opened my ear, and I 

was not rebellious; I turned not backward.  I gave my back to those who strike, and my 

cheeks to those who pull out the beard; I hid not my face from disgrace and spitting.”   

(Isaiah 50:5-6 ESV)

So we have the example of the Servant, we also have His testimony of the Father’s 

faithfulness in Isaiah 50: 7-9, “But the Lord GOD helps me; therefore I have not been 

disgraced; therefore I have set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be put to 

shame.  He who vindicates me is near.  Who will contend with me?  Let us stand up together.   

Who is my adversary?     Let him come near to me.  Behold, the Lord GOD helps me; who 

will declare me guilty? Behold, all of them will wear out like a garment; the moth will eat them 

up.”  As we give thought to these words from the Servant, we also need to look as the 

Servant did; His eyes were on the Father, not government, not religion, not family, but God 

the Father, and His face was set like a flint.  And the call was to the people of God to stand 

up together.  God is calling His Church to stand together in this darkness we are encountering; 

listen to Moses Church, “For you are a people holy to the LORD your God, and the LORD 

has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are 

on the face of the earth.” (Deuteronomy 14:2)  Do you not understand that you have been 

grafted into God’s chosen, you are His Church, and the apostle Peter under the leadership 

of the Holy Spirit gave us this information on who we are in Christ: “But you are a chosen 

race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim 

the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.” ( Peter 2:9)

My prayer for the Church is Isaiah 50:10, “Who among you fears the LORD and obeys the 

voice of his servant?  Let him who walks in darkness and has no light trust in the name of 

the LORD and rely on his God.” (Isaiah 50:10 ESV)

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Absentee man

Isaiah 50:1-5

How often have you been ask a question and it was clear the person asking knew the answer 

before asking the question?  Mothers are good at asking questions they know the answers to, 

and so are teachers and bosses, but has God ever ask you a question?  Well, He ask Israel 

this question: “Thus says the LORD: “Where is your mother's certificate of divorce, with which 

I sent her away? Or which of my creditors is it to whom I have sold you? Behold, for your 

iniquities you were sold, and for your transgressions your mother was sent away. (Isaiah 50:1) 

 It is clear God not only ask the question, but also gave a precise answer to the questions 

He ask.  And without waiting for a reply God ask these questions: “Why, when I came, was 

there no man; why, when I called, was there no one to answer? Is my hand shortened, that 

it cannot redeem? Or have I no power to deliver? Behold, by my rebuke I dry up the sea, I 

make the rivers a desert; their fish stink for lack of water and die of thirst.” (Isaiah 50:2 ESV)

I may be reading something into this, but it seems the absentee man was and is the problem 

then and today.  Do you recall that rascal Adam, where was he when his lady needed him, 

and the answer is standing right next to her?  But he was not her protector, Adam went 

passive, he was the example of many a man in the church today, present in body but absent 

when it comes to being the man, the provider and protector.  It seems Adam’s model was 

being followed by the men of Israel much like it is today, men posing as husbands and dads, 

but when it comes to leading, the question is asked, were is the man?

If you examine yourself and the title absentee man fits you God has a clear plan of what is needed to make you into a good servant, a follower of Christ, and someone who will lead as a husband and dad.  As we look into this ask the Holy Spirit to give you the eyes to see, the ears to hear, and the teacher to guide you into truth.  The good servant shares these truths with us of what is needed; “The Lord God has given me the tongue of those who are taught, that I may know how to sustain with a word him who is weary. Morning by morning he awakens; he awakens my ear to hear as those who are taught.  The Lord God has opened my ear, and I was not rebellious; I turned not backward.”  (Isaiah 50:4-5)

A brother in Christ asked me how he could live the Christian life?  It seems I often do what 

I do not want to do, and my answer is what great company you find yourself in.  For the 

apostle Paul said the same thing, it’s the defeated Christian chapter of Romans seven, but 

we also learn the solution is found in acting like Jesus tells the truth, for in doing so you allow 

the Spirit to live out Christ in you, and that is the hope of glory.  “For through the law I died to 

the law, so that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, 

but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, 

who loved me and gave himself for me.”   The brother who asked me this question had come 

to Christ in his fifties and did not understand that for fifty years he had gotten his needs met 

outside of Christ.  He, like you and I, must put to death those patterns of depending on self, 

and act on what Jesus is telling us, to walk by the Spirit and not to give the flesh any 

opportunity.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

God knows your Name

Isaiah 49:14-26

But Zion said, “The LORD has forsaken me; my LORD has forgotten me.”

As we look at the verse above, it is many a follower of God that have experienced a time when it seemed no one understood and no one cared.  The Holman Study Bible, on page 1206 in the notes, has this to say about the verse above: “Zion, personified as a woman, represents Jerusalem.  She complained or lamented that God had abandoned her.  The verses that follow suggest that what she missed was her “children,” or the inhabitants of Jerusalem.  Their absence in exile led her to suggest that God had forgotten her.”

Most of the life of Israel, she has been surrounded by nations who wanted to remove her from this planet, and that has not changed, for on this very day she is fighting in a war with those who wish to destroy her.  So what is the world’s opinion of Israel?  Italian Journalist Giulio Meotti gives this insight: “The world doesn’t care if an Israeli tank holds its fire when facing a Hamas terrorist surrounded by children. The world doesn’t care if Israeli pilots are justified in hitting a UN school.  The world doesn’t care if a Golani unit finds weapons in a Palestinian kindergarten. For the world, Israel is the scapegoat. Jews are always unjust.” 

This is happening today as I write, so can you imagine how the people in captivity must have 

felt?  God has a reply, then and now,  “Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should 

have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget 

you. Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are continually 

before me. Your builders make haste; your destroyers and those who laid you waste go 

out from you. Lift up your eyes around and see; they all gather, they come to you. As I live, 

declares the LORD, you shall put them all on as an ornament; you shall bind them on as 

a bride does.”  (Isaiah 49:15-18 ESV)  Now let me ask you a question, if your Creator spoke 

these words to you would you be encouraged?

Isaiah is speaking for the LORD and tells Israel that their returning numbers from captivity 

will be so large that Jerusalem will not be able to hold them.  God is telling them, you left 

in chains but will be carried back and they will serve you.  Though they doubted God’s power 

to rescue them from captivity, God made it very clear, He is not only going to do so but He 

will also subject their captors to the punishment they have given out to Israel.  

As a follower of Christ, do you need to be reminded that the Father, Jesus, and the Holy 

Spirit know your name; John 10:14-15, “I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my 

own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life 

for the sheep.”  To my brothers in Christ and in Israel, the chosen Ones, remember these 

words of King David, “O Lord, you have searched me and known me! You know when I sit 

down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar. You search out my path and 

my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways. Even before a word is on my tongue, 

behold, O Lord, you know it altogether. You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your 

hand upon me.” Psalm 139:1-5

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Those Sneaky little gods

Isaiah 49:8-13

How big is your God?  Is your God able to change the landscape, to bring darkness to light, to rescue His chosen ones out of the hands of their enemies?  If not, why do you give him the time of day, for many today your god is not big, for you deem it necessary to fight His battles, to live in fear and hate, is this the teaching from Jesus?  I know it is not!  So how can people like you and I, people with a big God, who have transferred our faith to the little gods of this world, return to the “I Am” the Almighty, the Creator of all that is? 

In the same way it has been from the time of Adam and Eve, first to humble ourselves, to acknowledge we try to do life on our terms, we have entered into agreement with darkness, in that like Lucifer we have said in our heart we want to be god, or equal, we want authority to do as we desire, and God calls that confession.  It will never happen to anyone holding onto self-rule, it requires one to humble self and pray asking for forgiveness out of our brokenness.  It is a seeking God and a denial of self; all of these are aspects of repentance.  It will never happen to a nation till it happens to God’s people, it will never happen in a family till it begins in the members who are God’s people, so let it begin in you.

Do you recall Jimmy Carter’s profession of being “Born Again”?  How it became the joke of the media; an also how 2 Chronicles 7:14 has been made light of by its being over used as a wake-up call for a follower of Christ, who sees it as the answer, but may not have put it into practice in their own life.  We must first acknowledge this is a call only to God’s people who are called by God’s name, it is a call to faithless people who have chased after the little gods of our culture, and have awakened in fear knowing that these little gods have no sustaining power, little gods like wealth, health, and the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and the military.  For God has said; “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”  

Church, it’s time to wake up, and in no way am I addressing a denomination or a building, this is to the body of Christ, each of us who by faith and God’s grace have allowed Christ to come into our hearts.  I must remind each of us that 1 Peter 4:17 states: “For the time is come for judgment to begin at the house of God: and if it begins first at us, what' shall be the end of them that obey not the gospel of God?”  Today clean out your mind of fear, for it is a tool of the enemy, and we are told by John the apostle, “There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.”

What a detour this morning, the LORD has taken us to see our needs as His people, for God 

is always calling His chosen back to the safety of His will.  I see a similarity between God’s 

restoration of Israel and His Church, look at these verses and ask has God shown this favor 

to us? “Thus says the LORD: “In a time of favor I have answered you; in a day of salvation 

I have helped you; I will keep you and give you as a covenant to the people, to establish the 

land, to apportion the desolate heritages, saying to the prisoners, ‘Come out, ’to those who 

are in darkness, ‘Appear.’ They shall feed along the ways; on all bare heights shall be their 

pasture; they shall not hunger or thirst, neither scorching wind nor sun shall strike them, for 

he who has pity on them will lead them, and by springs of water will guide them.”  

(Isaiah 49:8-10 ESV) For each of us walked at one time in darkness before we entered 

into Christ, and He has given us Jesus as our Redeemer and put His Holy Spirit within us.   

Could it be that we allow our lust and pride to lead us, and not Christ?

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice