Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered outside the gate. Therefore, let us go forth to him outside the camp, bearing his reproach. For we have no continuing city here, but we seek one to come.
Select a thought to read by choosing a collection, the month, and then the day:
“And it shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for Him, and He will save us! This is the Lord; we have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation.”
Isaiah 25:9-10
“For the Lord is our judge; the Lord is our lawgiver; the Lord is our king; He will save us.”
Isaiah 33:22
“Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not. Behold, your God will come with a vengeance, even God with a recompense; He will come and save you.”
Isaiah 35:4
It only stands to reason that if Isaiah was moved by the Spirit of God, he used words the way God uses them. If Isaiah’s words were not his own, but were God’s, then when we read the words of the book of Isaiah, we are reading words that came from the mouth of God. And that being so, we should then frame our own speech to match that of the Creator if, that is, we desire to speak the truth when we speak.
Look carefully at the word “salvation” in the prophecies that Isaiah spoke. How does that ancient prophet use the word? What is God thinking when He uses the word “salvation”, and do we think the same thing God thinks when we use it?
The word, “salvation”, as used by God through Isaiah, is a future experience that awaits only those who have the courage to wait on God. The word “salvation”, as used by God through Isaiah, is a promise; it is something for which the righteous yearn and in which they place their hope.
When we pause to consider how the word “salvation” is used by the apostles of Christ, we quickly see that they were moved by the same God to think the same way God thought when He spoke that word through Isaiah. To Peter, salvation was “the end of our faith” (1Pet. 1:9), which Jesus will bring to us at the end of this age (1Pet. 1:5-7). It is the promise of God for His New Testament saints, nearer to which, according to Paul, we daily come (Rom. 13:11) so, long as we are walking in obedience to Christ (Heb. 5:9).
To know the truth is simply to think what God thinks when we use the words God uses. To speak the truth is to say what God says, but with the same thought inspiring the saying. Let us pay careful attention to what God has said and pray for discernment to understand what God was thinking when He said it. Otherwise, we may use the words of God but with an altered meaning, and that may prove to be a fatal error. Peter mentioned some in his day who, because they did not understand God’s thoughts, twisted God’s words to mean what they thought instead, and he said that they did so “to their own destruction” (2Pet 3:16).
God’s words bring life only to those who receive the life that inspired the words. Only as we humble ourselves to God’s thoughts can we comprehend the words that have come out of His mouth. Many over the years have repeated God’s words; even Satan did that during Jesus’ Temptation in the wilderness. But, oh, how few men there have been who spoke from the heart of God! How few have spoken because they were moved to speak by the Spirit that lives within our Creator! History has proved thousands of times that anyone, even the vilest among men, can repeat the words of God that holy men from ages past spoke and recorded, but, oh, how few have ever spoken to us who possessed the mind of Christ!
Pray to know what God thinks. Only then can you understand what He has said, and only then can you repeat what He has said and actually be telling the truth.