July 2, 2022
Subject: To Defend Truth, You Must Speak Up in the Name of the One who is Truth – Jesus Christ
Isaiah 59:14-15 “Truth is fallen in the street; Truth fails; he who departs from evil makes himself a prey.”
A new video entitled ‘She Nails It’ has 2.5 million views and growing. A woman gives multiple examples of how we have changed from knowing what is true to accepting obvious lies. She ends with a message: “Wake up America – like the Titanic, we have hit the iceberg and are taking on water fast. Speak up.” I’ve added to her list in the table below. Can you see how off course we have allowed America to get?
There is a great source for us to study for this same problem in another country, and how it was solved. The source is the Bible, the country is Israel, the solution is Jesus Christ. Let’s read and see.
Isaiah 59:9-11 ➔ The Situation: “Justice is far from us, nor does righteousness overtake us; we look for light, but there is darkness! For brightness, but we walk in blackness! We grope for the wall like the blind, and we grope as if we had no eyes; we are as dead men in desolate places. We all growl like bears, and moan sadly like doves; we look for justice, but there is none; for salvation, but it is far from us.”
Isaiah 59:12- ➔ The Cause: “Our transgressions are multiplied before You, and our sins testify against us; in lying against the Lord, and departing from our God, speaking oppression, conceiving and uttering from the heart words of falsehood. Justice is turned back, and righteousness stands afar off; for truth has fallen in the street, and integrity cannot enter. So, truth fails, and he who departs from evil makes himself a prey.”
Isaiah 59:12- ➔ The Solution: “Then the Lord saw it, and it displeased Him that there was no justice. He saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor; therefore His own ARM brought salvation for Him; His own righteousness, it sustained Him. For HE put on righteousness as a breastplate, and a helmet of salvation on HIS head; HE put on the garments of vengeance for clothing and was clad with zeal as a cloak.” Who is this “Arm of the Lord” who brought salvation to Israel in God’s name?
“Take up the whole armor of God… gird your waist with truth, put on the breastplate of righteousness, take the helmet of salvation” (Ephesians 6:13-17). Isn’t this the same armor in Isaiah 59? Wait – It gets better.
“Put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts” (Romans 13:14). So, we put on God’s armor, but we also put on Christ? Sounds like God’s “armor” is Jesus Christ Himself! If you want to defend truth, speak up in the name of the One who claimed to be truth – Jesus Christ.
Ed Croteau is a lay pastor and resident of Lee’s Summit and hosts a weekly study in Lees Summit called “Faith: Substance and Evidence.” He can be reached with your questions through the LS Tribune, on Facebook and his website www.fse.life.
