Presented to Alberni Valley Ministries, 23 August 2020 by Captain Michael Ramsay
Surely
the arm of the Lord is not too short to save. No matter what you have
done the Lord can save you.
Horrible things happen. Some of the things I
have heard in the previous couple of days alone:
·
PTSD
·
Doctors playing with
medications
·
People are OD-ing at an
incredible rate
·
AA groups aren't meeting
·
People's children are
missing
·
People are dying of
cancer
·
People are having their
legs amputated
·
I have heard of
spiritual abuse
·
People are losing their
sight and people are losing their mind
The
Lord’s arm is not too short. God can save you.
I
remember when Susan and I were with 614 Vancouver on the DTES (downtown
eastside). We had just finished a Bible study in one of the buildings there and
when we were leaving we accidentally walked out the wrong door. It locked
behind us. We were trapped. All around us was barbed wire fence and everywhere
on the ground were needles. And with us we had a two year old Rebecca and a one
year old Sarah-Grace who still put everything in her mouth. Back then we didn't
have cell phones. There was no way out. We tried the door. We examined the
fences. We were stuck. It was night. It was dark. A 2 year-old Rebecca led us
in a prayer and the door opened - and we walked into the building and out to
safety; the LORD provided salvation. We were falling and His arm was not too
short to save.
I
have told my parachute story before - I was falling and the Lord's arm wasn't
too short to save.
I
have seen people delivered from addiction - the Lord's arm wasn't too short to
save.
I have
seen people delivered from cancer - inexplicably - other than through an answer
to prayer. The Lord's arm wasn't too short to save.
I
have been with people on their deathbed when they accepted the gift of eternal
life. The Lord's hand isn't too short to save.
Now,
of course people will still get sick; people will still die (far be it for me
to preach the prosperity heresy) but the Lord can help us always in any
situation and He does offer salvation both for now and forever.
I
have talked to many of you. Many of you have stories of how the Lord has saved
you right now, in the past, and for eternity.
The
arm of the LORD is not too short to save you. His hearing is not so bad that he
cannot hear your cries for help.
This
is an important sentiment with which to start this chapter. Notice that this
chapter is talking about sin. The author mostly speaks about two sins: lying
and violence. But the author uses a whole lot of different words that we
translate as 'sin' or 'iniquity' in our Bibles. [1] He refers to sin - through
different Hebrew words - as ways we don't measure up, ways we miss the mark; he
refers to sin as a moral evil and even a natural evil which isn't evil at all.[2] (Natural evil is just an
un-preferred event, a natural disaster like a tsunami, a hurricane or a
tornado.) Sin can also be seen as a personified force that can get a hold of us
and not want to let go… Evil, Sin, and Iniquity abound in this chapter but
there are two that are highlighted here above all others. Lying and violence; of
violence. Isaiah here says,
Verse 3 For your hands
are stained with blood,
your fingers with guilt.
6b Their deeds are evil
deeds,
and acts of violence are
in their hands.
7 Their feet rush into
sin;
they are swift to shed
innocent blood.
They pursue evil
schemes;
acts of violence mark
their ways.
13… inciting revolt and
oppression,…
Violence
in our world today is over the top. One of the groups that I am in contact with
is ACAWS, the women's shelter in town. You can see Ellen Frood's clips on Shaw
TV. Violence in these Covid times, when people are confined, is being manifest
in many ways. Not to mention the riots and violence now and in normal
times.
I remember
again our time on Vancouver’s DTES: My last Bible study before we left
Vancouver to move to Winnipeg, a friend of mine, later that night, murdered a
complete stranger in what was probably a drug related crime. She had been clean
for a long time before this too and was planning to leave this dangerous area
the next week but was caught by the sin of violence, in this tragic act of
killing an innocent person. The last stop I had on my way out of Vancouver was
to visit another friend of mine who was in jail in the lower mainland.
In
Toronto, a corps member and an employee lost his daughter to a vicious murder
in one of the buildings we led Bible study in; we lost a member of our
children's youth group to a spree shooter and a friend of friends to a serial
killer. Violence is everywhere.
In
Winnipeg one of my favourite ministries was at Stony Mountain Penitentiary. Many
there horrible suffered terrible consequences of violence both as perpetrator
and recipient. Violence is everywhere. It is a sin that tries to grab us all.
Matthew 5 makes it very clear that if we ever wish a violent end to someone
then we are already trapped by that sin and it can drag us further and further
from the peace of the Lord. And I have felt rage build up in myself sometimes -
sometimes over things in my day to day life and sometimes I can get worked up
just by watching the news! The temptation to a violent heart is a dangerous
trap. Violence -and a violent heart - is a terrible sin that tries to reach
out, grab us, and pull us away from the Lord – but the arm of the Lord is not
too short to save us.[3]
The
sin that Isiah highlights as being similarly significant in this chapter is
lying. Isaiah points out that the sin of dishonesty tries to drag us down as
much as the temptation to violent thoughts and violent actions. Right next to
violence here is people who lie and people who say wicked things. This passage
speaks a lot about people who say wrong and deceptive things.
Verse 3: Your lips have
spoken falsely,
and your tongue mutters
wicked things.
4b They rely on empty
arguments, they utter lies;
‘Empty arguments’ with the lies: This reminds
me of the internet, Facebook, Twitter, and fake news of which we have all
heard. There are empty arguments everywhere. We can read any number of posts
and think… That doesn’t make any sense, that can’t be true. And then we do a
little research and we find out that it isn’t true. And this is not just social
media now.
This
is mainstream media as well. I can almost pick the news station I want based on
my personal prejudices: I feel this way about an issue so I will read the
National Post; I think the opposite so I will watch CBC. I don’t like what so
and so is doing so I will watch CNN; I do like what they are doing so I will
watch Fox News. The lies and empty arguments are everywhere. In times when we
don’t have to social distance, just go down to any coffee shop at certain times
of the day and listen to people get worked up about this kind of stuff based on
whichever empty arguments they happen to be seduced by.
Verse 4: They conceive
trouble and give birth to evil.
5 They hatch the eggs of
vipers
and spin a spider’s web.
Whoever eats their eggs
will die,
and when one is broken,
an adder is hatched.
6 Their cobwebs are
useless for clothing;
they cannot cover
themselves with what they make.
13 … uttering lies our
hearts have conceived…
14 truth has stumbled in
the streets,
honesty cannot enter.
15 Truth is nowhere to
be found,
and whoever shuns evil
becomes a prey.
Lies,
lies, and more lies. And whoever does not play the game of lying, condemning
others and wishing violence upon those with whom we disagree become the prey of
others. I haven’t followed ‘cancel culture’ too closely but I understand that
people who have refused to toe the line on various issues have been boycotted
or fired by bosses who were afraid of boycotts. I have also heard of people
being asked double-edged questions that place them between a rock and a hard
place, questions to which there is no right answer and then suffering the
consequences of being dashed against either that rock or that hard place.
Whoever shuns evil becomes prey.
This
is important. A repeated word in Isaiah 59 is justice (mispat in verses 4&8).[4] There can be no justice
where people are dishonest. There can be no justice - even if people are
calling for justice - if they are really just wanting to force their ideas on
others. You can call for justice all you want, if your justice movement is full
of violence and lies then it is not justice it is only bullying. Where there is
no righteousness there is no justice. When there is violence and deceit
then justice is not possible. (I think this may very much be where our society
may be hovering at present.)
But
even so the arm of the Lord is not so short that He can’t save us.
This
is so important: as far gone as ancient Israel was, as far gone as our society
may or may not be. As challenging as your life may be and as challenging as
mine may be, the Lord’s arm is not so short as he cannot save us.[5]
No
matter what you have done. No matter how bad you evaluate what you have been
caught up in, God can save you. Even if you have succumbed to a temptation for
lying or violence God can save you. Even if any of us here have killed someone
by accident, by design, or otherwise; God can save us. Whatever the worst thing
is that you have done – or thought - in your life that might threaten to plunge
you from the cliffs of eternal life, the arm of the Lord is not so short that
He can’t grab hold of you and pull you up to salvation for now and forever.
So
this is my encouragement for us this week. Whatever sins are trying to grab hold
of us and drag us down, I encourage us all to turn to the Lord. He knows what
troubles you; He knows what concerns you; He knows all that is trying to pull
you under but don’t worry, as we turn to Him whose arm is not too short, no
matter how far we have fallen, the Lord can pull us back up to safety.
Let us pray.
[1] Cf. The New Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, (Nashville, Tenn.: Thomas Nelson Publishing,
1995).
[2] Captain Michael Ramsay, John 2:1: Sinless and Sin Less. Presented to Alberni Valley Corps of The Salvation Army, 05 August 2018. Available online: https://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2018/08/1-john-21-sinless-and-sin-less.html
[3] Edouard Kitoko Nsiku , 'Isaiah', Africa Bible Commentary, (Nairobi, Kenya: Word Alive Publishers,
2010), ‘Isaiah 50:1-21: The Crimes of
the People’, 874: God has not abandoned us
[4] Cf. Gene M. Tucker, NIB VI:
The Book of Isaiah 1-39, (Abingdon Press, Nashville, Tenn: 2001), 500
[5] Cf. William MacDonald: Believers Bible Commentary: Old Testament
(Thomas Nelson Publishers:1985), p.984
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