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Hiscoming Ministries
 

Sunday 4th March 2018

 

 

To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? saith the LORD: I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he goats. When ye come to appear before me, who hath required this at your hand, to tread my courts? no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto me; the new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with; it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting. Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hateth: they are a trouble unto me; I am weary to bear them.  And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you: yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood. Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil; Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow. Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool”             Isaiah 1:11-18

 

 

Pure religion is not a bad thing, it's mentioned in the Bible (James 1:26-27) But the religion we see in the world today, is a far cry from the pure religion of the Bible. It has become an abomination to our Lord God. This is, of course, nothing new. I suppose we could sum up the concept of religion today as, MAN'S ATTEMPT TO REACH GOD. The unspoken idea being that if we PLEASE GOD, He will bless us in return.

 

The reason so many say that CHRISTIANITY is not a religion, is because TRUE CHRISTIANITY is the opposite. Instead of being man's attempt to reach God, it is GOD REACHING DOWN TO MAN. It's not a case of what we can do to please our God, but WHAT GOD HAS ALREADY DONE FOR US.

 

Have a look at the Old Testament verses from Isaiah 1 (Above) God, through the prophet Isaiah, was rejecting the people's attempt to please Him. He was in effect saying, I don't want your animal sacrifices. I don't want your special assemblies. I don't want your sabbaths, your vain prayers or your burning of incense. I don't want your raised hands and your long prayers, BECAUSE YOUR HEART IS SO FAR FROM ME, YOUR SINS HAVE DIVIDED US.

 

God calls upon the people to wash, be clean and to stop sinning. He calls upon them to be practical in their religion, to reach out to the oppressed, to help the orphan and the widow (Which is exactly what JAMES 1 in the NT calls PURE RELIGION) Then God says a remarkable thing. He says to the people “Come, Let's talk this over, let's reason it out.”

 

Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool” Isaiah 1:18

 

God was foretelling, through the prophet Isaiah, of the great sacrifice that Jesus would make, of His life upon the cross, of His divine blood shed for our cleansing from sin.

 

Much of what goes on in the name of CHRISTIANITY today, is an ABOMINATION in the sight of God. It appears to be all about WHAT WE CAN DO. What is called worship is not the worship spoken of in the BIBLE. We display our gifts to show HOW SPIRITUAL WE ARE when in fact it just shows hows ignorant we are of the scriptures.

 

All the time, God is calling us to “Come and reason this out together” Stand back in utter amazement, and see what GOD HAS ALREADY DONE. From you He requires A HEART THAT IS FIXED UPON HIM. A HEART, NOT FOCUSED ON OURSELVES, BUT ON OTHERS, LESS FORTUNATE.

 

We were never saved to indulge ourselves, but we are saved TO SERVE HIM.

 

And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me” Luke 9:23

 

I challenge you today, to COME and REASON THIS OUT WITH GOD. We haven't been saved to have a free, easy ride, but to display the works that God has ordained for us.

 

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them”     Ephesians 2:10

 

Brotherly love....Pastor Keith

 

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The Sunday Thought · Southend Full Gospel Church · St Anns Road · Southend-on-Sea, Essex SS2 5AT · United Kingdom

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