Isaiah 1:16-17 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 judgement, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow.
Oh Friends, it was another beautiful day in Paradise, but our God wasn’t happy. Why? His major handiwork, the creation of which He’s most proud, the children of men, were still being wicked and idolatrous, listening to the fallen angel Lucifer, being duped by his lies and glittering but not golden promises of fleshly lusts and oodles of material wealth that rots and is of no use in the after life. Wow! Bruh Paul would surely be proud of that sentence. (smile) It’s amazing that Isaiah’s call to Israel for repentance from their sinful ways, eons ago, still rings true, and is even more applicable today. Sin is so rampant now that the Old Testament prophets would hold their heads and bawl. If they thought ancient Israel was bad, they couldn’t conceive of the evil that pervades and permeates modern Babylon. Oh my people, when are we going to learn eh, that the wages of sin is death? We have so many other fallen societies to learn from, but like each of them, we feel we’re special and nothing bad will happen to us. But Friends, let’s take a moment and look back at just the last decade and see how life on our planet has gotten worse. Contemplate the sudden torrent of natural disasters, the increase in wars and rumours of war, including the rebirth of the cold war, the increase in violence within nations, the rise of racial tension and hatred again, the violent suppression of minorities and dissent in general, the breakdown of society’s backbone unit, the family, the angst, resentment and distrust between parents, between parents and children and between siblings. All of this has led to a complete breakdown of Christian values and general morality. Hn! I almost forgot to mention our current disaster; the economic meltdown that’s shaken the world systems like not even two world wars could do. The negative effects of greed, manipulation and lies will eventually get you if you practice them long enough. And we certainly did. The secular state is winning the battle, for God has been easily and quietly removed from our schools and public places. Neither does He exist much in the homes where so many families are disjointed and dysfunctional. The Church has become powerless, rudderless and full of dissension, with more parts breaking away each day over petty, selfish stuff. And without a strong, unified Church, we can never hope to defeat the forces of evil, who are quite unified. Oh Friends, the Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob has had it with us. ‘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.’ (Isa.1:15) Yes my people, there’s no doubting that last accusation, our hands are certainly full of blood, of our brother’s blood. In the last century alone, we’ve possibly spilled more blood than in the rest of man’s history combined. That’s definitely not a nice statistic to behold. Violence and bloodshed have become so commonplace today that it hardly affects our children cause that’s all they know. And those are the things now considered newsworthy. Anything that deals with LOVE is laughed at, scorned and thought sappy. But people, LOVE is the only thing that can save our crumbling world. Like Ike did back then, it’s time for us to make our own resounding, vociferous call for repentance and a return to a much more godly lifestyle. It’s our only hope of, or for redemption. As Ike boldly declared on God’s behalf, so should we: ‘Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil.’ Now this is not a mere ritual washing. It’s not even something we can do for ourselves. It means accepting the cleansing of our hearts by the Lord when we truly repent and turn from our evil ways. Jeremiah pleaded the same thing. ‘O Jerusalem, wash thine heart from wickedness, that thou mayest be saved. How long shall thy vain thoughts lodge within thee?’ (Jer.4:14) Now that’s a very good question mih breddren. How long shall we allow wicked thoughts to destroy us, to keep us from the cleansing, wholesome power of the Most High God Jehovah? We’ve already been commanded to cut out the evil, and instead; ‘Learn to do well; seek judgement, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow.’ Those are the things we should be concentrating on as believers; doing good to all and sundry, ensuring that justice is upheld, relieving the oppressed as well as reproving the oppressor, vindicating and defending the orphans, and pleading for mercy for the widows, who in many societies are treated like outcasts. Oh mih people, I don’t know what else to say or do. Many of us don’t like the lifestyle that currently prevails in our world, but are we doing anything concrete to change it? I doubt it. But it won’t ever change for the better until we get up and start taking positive, productive action to enable that change. Chuh! All yuh make me sound like a stuck record, repeating the same thing over and over. Christianity is not a passive system. It is action oriented. Jesus talked plenty, but He walked every word He spoke. And that’s how we should be my people. If we want to work on His behalf, then we need to get into action; put on the full protective armour of His Holiness and engage the enemy face to face. They can’t defeat us if we’re fully clothed in God’s armour. Many of us though are still fearful. We talk a great Christian talk, but we’re scared to walk it. Come on now Friends, that’s demeaning Jesus’ name. And walking our talk doesn’t necessarily mean being a missionary or a martyr. Remember charity, LOVE, begins at home. And there’s lots of work to be done right in our own homes and neighbourhoods. It’s the responsibility of every believer to make things better; spread the Word and live it in their everyday walk. And if each of us took that responsibility seriously… Oh, what a wonderful world this would be! It’s pure common sense mih people. Yuh lives not going to improve unless you do something yuhself to improve them. Judging from the way things going now, deh liable to get a whole lot worse. So I beg, and plead, and implore, and whatever other words synonymous with them, please let us take the bull by the horns and do something serious, positive and productive nuh. If not for our sakes, but for our children and future generations. Bruh Paul says it perfectly. ‘Let LOVE be without dissimulation. (hypocrisy) Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good.’ (Rom.12:9) Oh Friends, is that so hard to do? Not if we really want to make changes. Much LOVE!…if God is LOVE…then we can only be of God…if we are of LOVE too..
Oh Friends, it was another beautiful day in Paradise, but our God wasn’t happy. Why? His major handiwork, the creation of which He’s most proud, the children of men, were still being wicked and idolatrous, listening to the fallen angel Lucifer, being duped by his lies and glittering but not golden promises of fleshly lusts and oodles of material wealth that rots and is of no use in the after life. Wow! Bruh Paul would surely be proud of that sentence. (smile) It’s amazing that Isaiah’s call to Israel for repentance from their sinful ways, eons ago, still rings true, and is even more applicable today. Sin is so rampant now that the Old Testament prophets would hold their heads and bawl. If they thought ancient Israel was bad, they couldn’t conceive of the evil that pervades and permeates modern Babylon. Oh my people, when are we going to learn eh, that the wages of sin is death? We have so many other fallen societies to learn from, but like each of them, we feel we’re special and nothing bad will happen to us. But Friends, let’s take a moment and look back at just the last decade and see how life on our planet has gotten worse. Contemplate the sudden torrent of natural disasters, the increase in wars and rumours of war, including the rebirth of the cold war, the increase in violence within nations, the rise of racial tension and hatred again, the violent suppression of minorities and dissent in general, the breakdown of society’s backbone unit, the family, the angst, resentment and distrust between parents, between parents and children and between siblings. All of this has led to a complete breakdown of Christian values and general morality. Hn! I almost forgot to mention our current disaster; the economic meltdown that’s shaken the world systems like not even two world wars could do. The negative effects of greed, manipulation and lies will eventually get you if you practice them long enough. And we certainly did. The secular state is winning the battle, for God has been easily and quietly removed from our schools and public places. Neither does He exist much in the homes where so many families are disjointed and dysfunctional. The Church has become powerless, rudderless and full of dissension, with more parts breaking away each day over petty, selfish stuff. And without a strong, unified Church, we can never hope to defeat the forces of evil, who are quite unified. Oh Friends, the Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob has had it with us. ‘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.’ (Isa.1:15) Yes my people, there’s no doubting that last accusation, our hands are certainly full of blood, of our brother’s blood. In the last century alone, we’ve possibly spilled more blood than in the rest of man’s history combined. That’s definitely not a nice statistic to behold. Violence and bloodshed have become so commonplace today that it hardly affects our children cause that’s all they know. And those are the things now considered newsworthy. Anything that deals with LOVE is laughed at, scorned and thought sappy. But people, LOVE is the only thing that can save our crumbling world. Like Ike did back then, it’s time for us to make our own resounding, vociferous call for repentance and a return to a much more godly lifestyle. It’s our only hope of, or for redemption. As Ike boldly declared on God’s behalf, so should we: ‘Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil.’ Now this is not a mere ritual washing. It’s not even something we can do for ourselves. It means accepting the cleansing of our hearts by the Lord when we truly repent and turn from our evil ways. Jeremiah pleaded the same thing. ‘O Jerusalem, wash thine heart from wickedness, that thou mayest be saved. How long shall thy vain thoughts lodge within thee?’ (Jer.4:14) Now that’s a very good question mih breddren. How long shall we allow wicked thoughts to destroy us, to keep us from the cleansing, wholesome power of the Most High God Jehovah? We’ve already been commanded to cut out the evil, and instead; ‘Learn to do well; seek judgement, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow.’ Those are the things we should be concentrating on as believers; doing good to all and sundry, ensuring that justice is upheld, relieving the oppressed as well as reproving the oppressor, vindicating and defending the orphans, and pleading for mercy for the widows, who in many societies are treated like outcasts. Oh mih people, I don’t know what else to say or do. Many of us don’t like the lifestyle that currently prevails in our world, but are we doing anything concrete to change it? I doubt it. But it won’t ever change for the better until we get up and start taking positive, productive action to enable that change. Chuh! All yuh make me sound like a stuck record, repeating the same thing over and over. Christianity is not a passive system. It is action oriented. Jesus talked plenty, but He walked every word He spoke. And that’s how we should be my people. If we want to work on His behalf, then we need to get into action; put on the full protective armour of His Holiness and engage the enemy face to face. They can’t defeat us if we’re fully clothed in God’s armour. Many of us though are still fearful. We talk a great Christian talk, but we’re scared to walk it. Come on now Friends, that’s demeaning Jesus’ name. And walking our talk doesn’t necessarily mean being a missionary or a martyr. Remember charity, LOVE, begins at home. And there’s lots of work to be done right in our own homes and neighbourhoods. It’s the responsibility of every believer to make things better; spread the Word and live it in their everyday walk. And if each of us took that responsibility seriously… Oh, what a wonderful world this would be! It’s pure common sense mih people. Yuh lives not going to improve unless you do something yuhself to improve them. Judging from the way things going now, deh liable to get a whole lot worse. So I beg, and plead, and implore, and whatever other words synonymous with them, please let us take the bull by the horns and do something serious, positive and productive nuh. If not for our sakes, but for our children and future generations. Bruh Paul says it perfectly. ‘Let LOVE be without dissimulation. (hypocrisy) Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good.’ (Rom.12:9) Oh Friends, is that so hard to do? Not if we really want to make changes. Much LOVE!…if God is LOVE…then we can only be of God…if we are of LOVE too..
SCRIP-BITS 