Do You Believe the Report?
The last part of Isaiah 52 and the whole chapter of Isaiah 53 is a prophecy about Jesus. In Isaiah 53:1, it starts out by asking a couple of questions and they are ones that you should ask yourself. You may not even understand them at first, but if you will consider what is being said today, God will give you understanding. Amen.
Verse l begins by asking, "Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?"
The report is: that Jesus died, He was buried and He rose again. And the arm of the Lord is revealed: to those that believe the report - trust in, rely on and adhere to it.
Do you trust in and rely on the death, burial and resurrection power for everything in your life? If not, then you are trusting in the flesh, and Jeremiah 17 says that you are cursed when you trust in the flesh. Go read it for yourself and see if it is not in there. And we have all trusted in the flesh at one time or another in our lives, and we were cursed for doing so. But thank God He forgives us when we ask Him. Amen. But if you want to be blessed, then you will have to trust in the power of the resurrected Christ and now is a good time to do so.
Let's go to Romans 10:13-17 and see what this says.
Verse 13 begins, "For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved."
That word 'saved' is to be made sound, set at safety. Do you have anything in your life that needs to be made sound? Jesus wants to make us sound spirit, body and soul. Complete soundness in all of these areas. That means that there will be no sickness or disease in our bodies and a soul that has been purified from all of its wickedness. A spirit and soul that has been cleansed from any, or all filthiness. You can read this in II Corinthians 7:1. When Jesus was raised from the dead, He made this available to anyone who will even dare to believe Him. And believing is to trust in and rely on the power that raised Him from the dead and mix faith with that power.
Jesus wants to purge your conscience from dead works by the blood of Jesus, so that you can serve the living God. And that purging will take place by faith, and by obeying this gospel. You purify your soul by obeying the truth through the Spirit - I Peter l:22. And in Acts it says we purify our hearts by faith.
Verse 14 and part of verse 15 of Romans 10 asks some interesting questions also. "How then shall they call on Him on whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? and how shall they preach, except they be sent?..."
The answer to the above questions is 'they cannot'. You cannot call on someone on whom you have not believed. You cannot believe in someone in whom you have not heard. You cannot hear without a preacher. And you cannot preach, unless God sends you. And when God sends you, you will be preaching the gospel - not your version of the gospel; otherwise you have not been sent by God.
There may be someone reading this message right now that has never heard about calling upon the Lord and believing the gospel. But in Romans 10:9-10 it says "that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation." Verse 11 continues, "For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on Him shall not be ashamed (or disappointed)."
That is all you have to do to be saved. But you will have to hold to it, otherwise your believing is in vain. Let's look at this in I Corinthians 15:1-4. This defines the gospel.
Verse 1: "Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand;..."
Paul had preached (or proclaimed) the gospel to the Corinthians and they had received it and were standing in it.
Verse 2: "By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain."
They were saved, or made sound, if they kept it in memory (or held fast to it); otherwise their believing was vain (or empty). I do not know about you, but I do not want my believing to be empty. Vain, or empty believing will not profit you one thing. But holding fast to this gospel will bring salvation to you every single time. And that is a good thing!
Verse 3: "For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;..."
He delivered to them 'first of all' something that he had received himself - and that something he had received was the gospel. You can see this in Galatians 1:11-12. "But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man. For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ." The revelation Paul had received of the gospel was given to him by Jesus Christ. And that was what he was preaching, or proclaiming.
Back in I Corinthians 15:4 it continues on with what the gospel is: "And that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the scriptures:..."
That is the gospel - the death, burial and resurrection power of the Lord Jesus. Now you are without excuse, because now you have heard what the gospel is. And if you will receive it and stand in it, you will be saved; made sound or set at safety. You will have to trust in the gospel daily. This is not a one time thing. It is taking up this gospel daily and following Jesus.
Let's go back to Romans 10:15. "And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!" And in the next verse we are going to see that the glad tidings of good things is the gospel.
Verse 16: "But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Esaias (Isaiah 53:1) saith, Lord, who hath believed our report?"
If you are not obeying the gospel, it is because you do not believe the gospel. Because if you believe the gospel, you will obey the gospel. And that word believe, as I have stated before, is to trust in, rely on and adhere to the death, burial and resurrection power daily.
Verse 17: "So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God."
That word of God that faith comes by hearing is the gospel. Go back and read verse 16. It is not just any word of the bible that faith comes by hearing. It is the gospel, (the death, burial and resurrection of the Lord Jesus), that faith comes by hearing.
It was the will of God for Jesus to come to this earth and die, be buried, go to hell and be raised again the third day. That was the plan of God from the foundation of the world. And through that plan man can be: redeemed, sanctified, justified, made righteous by faith in the blood of Jesus, be a king and a priest to rule and reign in this life through the gift of righteousness, be healed and walk in divine health, be rich and be forgiven of all sins. That is what was made available for the entire human race through the death, burial and resurrection of the Lord Jesus.
In II Peter 3:9 it says that the Lord is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. And repentance is changing your will and what you believe, to believing the will of God and what He says. Romans 3:4 tells us to let God be true, and everything you and I believe or know to be a lie. We have been raised to believe lies, if we have not believed and trusted in the gospel. Hosea 10:13 says we have eaten the fruit of lies. And you will have to overcome those lies and believe what Jesus did for you when He died, was buried and rose again.
It is God's will for you to believe this gospel and stand in it daily. You can walk victorious in every area of your life if you will do this. Remember, God grants grace to the humble, but resists the prideful - and humility is submitting to His will.
I would encourage you this day to consider these words and God will give you understanding in all things. Amen.
