STATE OF THE WICKED

“But the wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt" (Isa. 57:20 NKJV).

In today’s verse we have a description of the wicked. The picture painted by Scripture is a warning to all. It does not encourage anyone to go the way of the wicked. Thus we want to note that the wicked lack peace, power, and purity.

Lack of peace - “The wicked are like the troubled sea.” Here the wicked is described as a troubled sea. It is a sea in turmoil. There is no peace. The waves are tossed about in a tempest. Sin kills peace. This is why the world is always at war. Sin does not bring peace; it only troubles society as well as the soul of man.

Lack of power - “When it cannot rest.” Sin overpowers the sinner and makes him weak. As a result, he does not have the power to overcome evil habits. Further, because he lacks power, the sinner is helpless and loses control of his life. And because sin is enslaving, man becomes a servant of sin. Only through redemption provided by Christ can man gain the power to overcome evil and experience freedom from the bondage of sin.

Lack of purity - “Whose waters cast up mire and dirt.” Because of sin, the wicked are unclean. Like the wild waves of the sea which throw dirt and mire on the shore, the wicked are always throwing up filth wherever they are. Their mouths continually spew out dirt. Their minds think dirt, and their deeds are dirty. However, the Lord Jesus Christ is the answer - His blood can cleanse the foulest sinner and make him clean before God.

(Adapted from Butler Daily Bible Reading)

Soli Deo Gloria (To God Alone Be The Glory)

Quotation of the Week

“Christ became a curse for us to remove sin’s curse from us!”

Anonymous

Word Study

Display

In Col. 2:15 we read, “When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through Him” (NASB).

Display is the Greek word deigmatizō (δειγματίζω = digh-mat-id'-zo). It means to exhibit, to expose, to make a public show or spectacle, such as in a triumphal procession. When a victorious general returns home from the wars, he would lead his captives and booty in a procession through the streets of Rome. By so doing, he was exposing his captives and the spoils of the conquered enemies to public view. Literally, deigmatizō means to make a show openly and boldly.

In classical Greek deigmatizō means to make an example of. Deigmatizō was not used in the Septuagint. In the New Testament, deigmatizō carried the idea of making someone a public spectacle, or exposing them to public disgrace. In the present context, the Lord Jesus Christ makes a public spectacle of the powers of darkness not just by proclamation, but by public display, as in a triumphal procession.

Prophecies Fulfilled by Jesus

Old Testament Prophecy – Messiah, God’s Servant would be shockingly abused (Isa. 52:14)

New Testament Fulfillment – Luke 18:31-34; Matt. 26:67-68

Did You Know…

In the Bible, it states that Jesus bears witness of Himself (John 8:18; 14:6).

Bible Quiz

God placed the rainbow in the sky after the flood to signify what promise?

**Answer to last week’s trivia: What is the last commandment? “You shall not covet” (Exodus 20:17; Deut. 5:21).

Names of the Lord Jesus Found in the Bible

“Author and Finisher”

“Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God!” (Heb. 12:2 NKJV).

1. Meaning – The Lord Jesus is our start and our finish

2. Insights – The Lord Jesus was at the beginning of creation and will be there at the end. He is both the Author of all that is and the One who sees His creation through the end.

3. Related Titles – Alpha and Omega (Rev. 1:8); Beginning and End (Rev. 21:6); First and Last (Rev. 22:13).

Did You Know – Christian History

Thomas Kelly was born July 13, 1769 in County Queens, Ireland. He was an Irish preacher and hymn-writer.

Kelly was educated for the Bar at Trinity College, Dublin. While completing his studies to become a lawyer, he was convicted of sin through the writings of William Romaine. Kelly then abandoned law for the church. Reading evangelical works changed his plans.

At first he tried to win salvation by ascetic practices, but eventually his eyes were opened to the message of justification by faith and he redirected his zeal along scriptural lines. When Thomas Kelly began to preach justification by faith, the leaders of Ireland’s established church, in which he was ordained, wanted nothing to do with it. The archbishop of Dublin, forbade Thomas Kelly and Rowland Hill (another evangelical with whom he was associated) from preaching in any church in his diocese.

Kelly was not about to be silenced. He established his own “dissenter” chapels at Athy, Blackrock and Portarlington, Ireland. Those who attended were known as ‘Kellyites.’ Although accused of being an enthusiast, Kelly was a thorough student of God’s word, learning Hebrew and other languages so he could get as near the original meaning of the Bible as possible.

However, it is not for his scholarship that he is known. Forbidden to preach in the established church, he taught in various chapels in Ireland. Eventually those truths found expression in his hymns. In 1799 Kelly began to publish his hymns, and during the next fifty years, 765 hymns came from his pen. While his hymns seem to cover the whole field of Christian life and experience, the Gospel is the basis of them all.

Hymns by Thomas Kelly are to be found in all the principal hymn‑books of Great Britain and America, and have been freely used in Church of England hymnals, but probably none have drawn more upon them than those known as “Brethren,” many of whom were themselves Irish.

Those who remember Kelly today usually do so because of one or another of his 760 hymns. Those hymns made him the Wesley of Ireland. Perhaps the best-loved is “Praise the Savior, Ye Who Know Him.”

While preaching at the advanced age of 85, Thomas Kelly had a stroke. As he was dying, someone remarked, “The Lord is my shepherd.” Kelly responded, “The Lord is my everything.” He died the following year and his last words were, “Not my will but Thine be done.”

A Little Humor

A drought in Georgia began to affect how the churches in many communities had to conduct baptisms. The Baptists took up sprinkling, the Methodists used damp cloths, and the Presbyterians gave out rain checks.

Thought Provoking Church Sign

“Playing with sin is toying with judgment!”