THE VITAL AWARENESS OF THE NEED
OF SPIRITUAL LABORING
In Isaiah 66:7-11 and then Verses 22-24, we read both sad words and glad words from God because of a nation and people who, some, rejected God’s Holy Word, and a remnant received His Word and held on to it for generations ,for centuries, with its Truth upheld that God’s Son would be birthed and a new, eternal spiritual nation formed called “the children of God, the children of the Messiah, the children of the Holy Spirit!
Isaiah 66:7-11 says first, “Before she was in labor, she gave birth; before her pain came, she delivered a male child. Who has heard such a thing? Who has seen such things? Shall the earth be made to give birth in one day? Or shall a nation be born at once? For AS SOON AS ZION WAS IN LABOR, she gave birth to her children. Shall I bring to the time of birth, and not cause delivery? Says the Lord. Shall I who cause delivery shut up the womb? Says your God. Rejoice with Jerusalem, and be glad with her, all you who love her; rejoice for joy with her, all you who mourn for her; that you may feed and be satisfied with the consolation of her bosom, that you may drink deeply and be delighted with the abundance of her glory.”
Isiah 66:22-24 then says, “For as the new heavens and the new earth which I will make shall remain before Me,” says the Lord, “So shall your descendants and your name remain. And it shall come to pass that from one New Moon to another, and from one Sabbath to another, all flesh shall come to worship before Me,” says the Lord. And they shall go forth and look upon the corpses of the men who have transgressed against Me. For their worm does not die, and their fire is not quenched. They shall be an abhorrence to all flesh.”
Did you see that? “That you may drink deeply and be delighted with the abundance of her glory”? Do you understand? Israel was chosen of God to receive and share Divine Blessing! Yes, it was through the ‘holy remnant of Israel’, through the ‘chosen virgin mother, Mary,’ there would come the unveiling of divine blessing, through the birth of the Christ-child, who would, when Holy God heard the voice of sorrow over sin, and the remnant of Israel’s cry over the sorrow for sin and their need of the Savior, Holy God in His Amazing Grace would use the few to touch the many!
It was in God’s timing, in His awareness of desperation for needy people, in their extremity of woefulness over their spiritual emptiness, which God saw and still sees as His eternal moment of divine opportunity; in their deep anxiety, in their moment of the ultimate agony of spirit, in their moments of darkness and seeing no light, God turned on the Heavenly Light, and darkness became the door of the Eternal Light, and the Lord Jesus was birthed by Mary to the glory of God!
I know you didn’t miss it! “As soon as Zion travailed, as soon as Zion was ‘in labor,’ as soon as the remnant saw the desperation for divine life outside their fleshly determination, outside their religious traditions, outside their “We can handle our own problems,” Holy God sent His Son – divine opportunity for new life, a new relationship, a new available presence and sustenance of Divine Life, a new resurrection power over sin and death and meaninglessness and emptiness, through His Son, God’s Promised Messiah whose name Isaiah told them and us about in Isaiah 9:6-8! It says:
“For unto us a Child is born,[does that ring a bell in your mind and heart?], unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end, upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, to order it and establish it with judgment and justice from that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this!”
But for many in Israel they were content with what the high priest and chief priests had to offer which was fleshly devotion to their religious pretense! Even the Pharisees and Sadducees in Jesus day were the pretenders who became the executioners of the King of kings and Lord of lords! And you must understand: There’s not much difference at all between hate and indifference – one can be very vocal and violent, while others just “I couldn’t care less!! Or, “corruption and compromise” related to the Spirit and the Word of God, Or, the true possession of one’s own pretense as he/she ‘fakes the faith’! Or, the best of ‘fleshly imitation’ or the “rest” of counterfeit imitation; Or, how about the devilish delusion of deception about ‘sin’ that says, ‘you shall not die’ as they keep on sinning and keep on dying in the death cycle that will not die! Holy God certainly has promised one the end result of his foolish life choices!
I’m sure this is why Charles Caleb Colton, in “ The Encyclopedia of Religious Quotations”, [Fleming H. Revell Company, Westwood, New Jersey, Edited and Compiled by Frank S. Mead], said: “After hypocrites, the greatest dupes the devil has are those who exhaust an anxious existence in the disappointments and vexations of business, and live miserably and meanly only to die magnificently and rich. – They serve the devil without receiving his wages, and for the empty foolery of dying rich, pay down their health, happiness, and integrity.” But it’s true of every ‘independent, self-serving man, rich or poor’!
Several lessons we must share related to “ The Vital Awareness of The Need of Spiritual Laboring”: FIRST, NO TRAVAILING – NO SPIRITUAL BIRTH! I was ashamed, heart-broken, to hear a TV pastor say he never talked about sin and the wages of sin because the lost of this world need the “good news”! But do you understand that the Holy Word declares that the wages of sin is death, the wages of sin is separation from God, the wages of sin cost the Life of the Son of God on the Cross – and without “repentance toward God and faith in the finished work of Christ at Calvary”, there is no reason for one to come smiling before Holy God, but broken, sorrowful, ashamed, and rejoicing that there is a way out of one’s eternal spiritual dilemma!
No travailing – no spiritual birthing! No repentance – no rejoicing! No seed of bitterness over the shameful life of sin, indifference, and fleshly indulgence and bondage – no true sons of God! No going away from an ungodly lifestyle, void of Holy Presence within – no coming into the fullness of the blessing of the gospel of Jesus Christ! No brokenness – no blessing! No identifying evidence of a Godly presence within – no rejoicing in the joy of the Lord!