Morning Manna by Rufus Parker - 2018 March 31

“He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth. He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken. And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth. Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors” (Isaiah 53:3-12).

  

Today’s Morsel:  None of the prophets seemed to display what Jesus would go through for our salvation like Isaiah. Isaiah pictures Jesus as a lamb slain and a sheep being sheared before her shearers.  The lamb is being sacrificed by death, and the sheep stands dumb while their wool is being trimmed and cut from their body.  While they stripped Jesus of His raiment, and He laid down His life for our sins, He opened not His mouth.  When the Spirit drew Philip to the Ethiopian Eunuch in the wilderness, he found him reading the same passage which Isaiah had written about Jesus.  And as Philip drew himself near to the eunuch’s chariot and heard him reading, he asked him, “Understandest thou what thou readest? And he said, How can I, except some man should guide me? And he desired Philip that he would come up and sit with him. The place of the scripture which he read was this, He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; and like a lamb dumb before his shearer, so opened he not his mouth: In his humiliation his judgment was taken away: and who shall declare his generation? for his life is taken from the earth. And the eunuch answered Philip, and said, I pray thee, of whom speaketh the prophet this? of himself, or of some other man? Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus. And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized? And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him” (Acts 8:30-38).  Why was there a need for the eunuch to be baptized after receiving the revelation of Jesus Christ as spoken by the prophet Isaiah?  Because Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection can only be applied to our lives by baptism, by immersion in water, in the name of Jesus Christ (Romans 6:1-5, Galatians 3:26-29, Acts 2:38).  This is what gives us the New Birth experience.

Sing: 1. Your only Son no sin to hide, but You have sent Him, from Your side, to walk upon this guilty sod, and to become the Lamb of God. (Chorus)
Oh’ Lamb of God, Sweet lamb of God, I love the Holy Lamb of God, oh wash me in His Precious Blood, My Jesus Christ the Lamb of God. 

         2. Your gift of Love, they crucified, they laughed and scorned him as he died the humble King, they named a fraud, and sacrificed the Lamb of God. (Chorus)
Oh’ Lamb of God, Sweet lamb of God, I love the Holy Lamb of God, oh wash me in His Precious Blood, My Jesus Christ the Lamb of God. 

        3.  I was so lost I should have died, but You have brought me to Your side to be led by Your staff and rod, and to be call a lamb of God. (Chorus)

Oh’ Lamb of God, Sweet lamb of God, I love the Holy Lamb of God, oh wash me in His Precious Blood, My Jesus Christ the Lamb of God. 

 

Thought For Today:  Baptism still saves us.