The Servant of the Lord.

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I preached this Sunday morning about the Servant of the Lord, from Chapter 42 of the Book of Isaiah. The Servant of the Lord is "Christ," that is, the One whom God has anointed to do God’s will in the creation, particularly to bring justice to the nations of the earth. According to the Apostle Paul, we who have received the blood atonement have been baptized into the Body of Christ, the Body of the One anointed to do God’s will in the creation, and to bring justice on the earth.

(7/29/2007) "Behold my servant whom I uphold." The Servant of God is the Lord Jesus Christ, the Anointed One. Because each one of us who has placed his or her faith in the blood of Christ has been anointed with the Spirit of God (the oil always comes upon the blood), all that is written concerning the Servant of the Lord applies to us.

For two thousand years the Lord’s people have not been able to "see" what is written clearly in the Psalms and the Prophets. We have not understood that God is going to come to the earth, exercise judgment, and cause His will to be done. Even though the Christian people have always prayed, "Your Kingdom come, Your will be done on the earth as it is done in Heaven," we have not believed it possible. Therefore the Christian message has been, and continues to be, "Receive Christ as your Saviour and you will spend eternity in a mansion in Heaven. Even though such a goal is not taught anywhere in the Scriptures, it persists nevertheless.

The truth is, the Bible is not about our going to Heaven to live forever. It is about the coming of the Kingdom of God to the earth. It appears to me the Kingdom is perfected in Heaven, in the spirit world, and when it has been perfected it will be installed upon the earth. The Kingdom will bring justice, love, peace, and joy into the earth and maintain these and all such blessings for eternity.

If such is the case, what is the program?

The program has been designed to operate in four major steps:

The first step is from the creation to the resurrection of Christ. Its purpose has been to orient us to God and to provide physical allegories, metaphors, and similes so we can understand spiritual realities.

The second step is from the resurrection to the return of the Lord.

The third step is from the return to earth of Christ until the resurrection of the dead of mankind has been completed, and people have been or have not been authorized to be accepted as citizens in the new world of righteousness. During this period the members of the Church shall be brought to perfection so they may be able to serve God as ruling priests.

The fourth step is the populating of a new earth with nations of people, and the installing of the Church on the new earth. The Church is the new Jerusalem, the Kingdom of God, the government that shall govern the nations of saved people

If we think carefully about this design, we can see that we did not choose Christ, He chose us. He has called us out from the ranks of mankind that we may be prepared to govern with Him.

If we accept this idea, then we can go to Isaiah 42 and find out what God is saying to us. We are the members of the Body of Christ, the fullness of His who fills all in all. We are the members of the Servant of the Lord. Once we have been called by the Lord, the purpose of our very existence is to obey the Spirit of God at all times until we are ready to rule with Christ.

I think—and I have been saying this for years—that our biggest issue today may be that of obedience. We are Americans. We are proud, arrogant, self-willed. Nobody, but nobody, is going to tell us what to do.

But consider for a moment. God is our Creator. Does our Creator have the right to tell us what we can’t do and what we must do? Answer that question in your heart.

Jesus Christ died to save us from spiritual death. Does He have the right to tell us what we can’t do and what we must do?

I believe any sincere Christian would answer yes to both question.

But when it gets right down to it, we will do the will of God and Christ when we feel ready, at the time we chose, under the circumstances we choose.

For two thousand years the churches have emphasized that Jesus is our Saviour. And they are correct in this. But they have not emphasized sufficiently that He also is our Lord.

The best attitude to take toward Jesus is that He is the Master and we are the slave. If He then chooses to elevate us to the level of friend, that is His business entirely. We so not deserve any such elevation.

You tell me. How many American believers are willing to be the slave of Jesus Christ?

How many American young people are willing to set aside all their hopes and dreams of marriage and success that they might be the slave of Jesus Christ?

How many American parents are willing to put their children on the altar of God, and tell God that the children are His to do with as He wishes?

Anything less than total obedience to the Lord Jesus is simply not acceptable in the Kingdom of God.

We Americans are arrogant. We will serve God on our terms or not at all. We must come to understand this attitude is not acceptable. We have been deluded. We think of God as a kindly, indulgent grandfather, rather than as the dread Sovereign who must be appeased with blood.

What I am saying is, we are dangerously off track in America. Because we have refused the Lordship of Christ, severe judgment are coming to our shores. Multitudes of people are going to die. If we are wise. we will put our household in order. We will tell our children to put their treasures in Heaven; to keep their attention focused on things above; and especially that to live is Christ and to die is gain.

Is this taught in your church—that to die is gain? That Christ is our Life? That our treasures are to be in Heaven? If I am not mistaken, we need to emphasize to the children and young people that we are pilgrims and strangers in this world, and we are looking for a Kingdom to come to the earth that will enforce the will of God.

One thing is certain: We are not qualified to serve as a member of the governing priesthood until we ourselves are totally obedient to the Lord Jesus. Because of this lack of preparation, we will not be resurrected and ascend to meet the Lord when He appears in the clouds.

The present space of time in America is to give us an opportunity to prepare ourselves for the chaos to come. If we are wise we will set ourselves to obey Christ in every detail. If we will do this, we will save ourselves and our loved ones throughout the age of moral and physical horrors that is on the horizon.

You can hear the morning sermon at morning. http://www.wor.org/audio/audio.htm

You can hear the evening sermon at evening. http://www.wor.org/audio/audio.htm

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