‘Christians should not fear speaking about their faith at work and in public places,\u2019 Theresa May said last week (Telegraph<\/i>, UK, 11\/30\/16). In his article Steven Swinford reported that\u00a0the (British) Prime Minister \u2018said people should be able to celebrate Christmas\u2026 Christianity should be “celebrated, not denigrated”\u2019. The article went on to record Mrs. May saying that Christians should “jealously guard” their right to speak out about their faith as she endorsed a report by the Evangelical Alliance and the Lawyers Christian Fellowship.<\/span><\/p>\n According to the article, the Prime Minister commented, “Of course we are now into the season of Advent, and we have a very strong tradition in this country of religious tolerance and freedom of speech and our Christian heritage is something we can all be proud of.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI’m sure that we would all want to ensure that people at work do feel able to speak about their faith, and also be able to speak quite freely about Christmas,” Mrs May observed.<\/span><\/p>\n Too often we are silenced by secular progressivism and its political correctness and are reluctant to speak to others about\u00a0the good news of great joy<\/i><\/b>\u00a0of Christmas.<\/span><\/p>\n It\u2019s helpful to consider one of the readings set for this Advent season.<\/span><\/p>\n Isaiah 35:1-2 reads:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad, the desert shall rejoice and blossom; like the crocus<\/i><\/span>\u00a0<\/sup><\/i><\/span>it shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice with joy and singing.\u00a0The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it,\u00a0the majesty of Carmel and Sharon. They shall see the glory of the Lord,\u00a0the majesty of our God.<\/i><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n A central theme of Isaiah 1-39 is God\u2019s judgment of his people. Occasionally a bright light shines in the dark scene of impending judgment on Judah (through the Babylonian conquest). Isaiah 35 is one such light, bringing God\u2019s promise of a new day.<\/span><\/p>\n Isaiah\u2019s poetry is powerful as he likens the experience of joy and singing at the coming of\u00a0the glory of the Lord, the majesty of our God<\/i><\/b>, to our response when flowers burst into bloom in parched lands after a\u00a0refreshing rain.<\/span><\/p>\n It is a vision that inspires courage and fearlessness<\/b>:\u00a0Strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees. Say to those who are of a fearful heart, \u2018Be strong, do not fear! Here is your God..\u2019<\/i>\u00a0(35:3-4a).<\/span><\/p>\n But Isaiah 35 also continues to sound a warning note.\u00a0Because God is holy he must judge what is\u00a0unholy<\/i><\/b>. In 35:4b we read,\u00a0\u2018\u2026He will come with vengeance,\u00a0with terrible recompense\u2026\u2019<\/i>\u00a0We would be happier to overlook this aspect of God\u2019s character. We\u2019d prefer to hear and pass on only a message of blessing \u2013 of justice without judgment, of salvation without a cross.<\/span><\/p>\n The wonderful news is that\u00a0the nature of the God of the Bible is\u00a0always to have mercy<\/i><\/b>. Isaiah continues:\u00a0\u2018\u2026He will come and save you\u2019<\/i>\u00a0(35:4c). We have no power to save ourselves: spiritually we are\u00a0blind, deaf, lame\u00a0<\/i>and\u00a0mute<\/i>\u00a0(Isaiah 35:5-6). The great news is that God himself will build us\u00a0a highway<\/i>\u00a0into his presence (not just into heaven)! God will bring us to our true and lasting home where there will be\u00a0joy and gladness\u2026 sorrow and sighing shall flee far away\u00a0<\/i>(35:8, 10).<\/span><\/p>\n Isaiah uses the language of\u00a0redeemed\u00a0<\/i>and\u00a0ransomed of the Lord\u00a0<\/i>(35:9-10) to speak of everyone who is brought into God\u2019s presence. These words look back to the rescue from Egypt; they also look forward to the saving work of Jesus Christ.<\/span><\/p>\n There is also something here that we miss.\u00a0The\u00a0highway<\/i>\u00a0to God is\u00a0called the Holy Way<\/i><\/b>; the unclean shall not travel on it\u2026<\/i>\u00a0(35:8). Having been rescued we are now called upon to work at the quality of life that reflects the\u00a0holiness\u00a0<\/i>of God. Paul the Apostle puts it this way:\u00a0we all\u2026 beholding the glory of the Lord,\u00a0<\/i>will be\u00a0transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another<\/i>\u00a0(2 Corinthians 3:18).<\/span><\/p>\n Isaiah 35 is a great reading for Advent. We see in it another facet of Isaiah\u2019s vision of the glory of the Lord as he points us to the glorious day of the final coming of the Lord. We can drink it in and take new courage as it speaks to us of the everlasting joy and gladness we will then know.<\/span><\/p>\n Surely this is news we will want family and friends to know \u2013 so they too will see\u00a0glory of the Lord, the majesty of our God.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n And, there is a present benefit: Theresa May observed that the report she was commending \u2018warns that society is forgetting “that its many freedoms derive from centuries of applying the Bible to public life”.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a9 John G. Mason<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" FAITH IN THE MARKETPLACE ‘Christians should not fear speaking about their faith at work and in public places,\u2019 Theresa May said last week (Telegraph, UK, 11\/30\/16). In his article Steven Swinford reported that\u00a0the (British) Prime Minister \u2018said people should be able to celebrate Christmas\u2026 Christianity should be “celebrated, not denigrated”\u2019. The article went on to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1485,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1483","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-word-on-wednesday"],"yoast_head":"\nIT’S IMPORTANT WE THINK ABOUT THIS<\/span><\/h2>\n
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MERCY<\/h2>\n
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