The Book Of Isaiah. Day 107, Death Destroyed, Part Two

Isaiah 25 contains glorious news: someday death will be destroyed! As we've moved through this book we've found judgment falling on sins, on nations, and on the earth. All of this will culminate in judgment upon death itself. The only news that tops this is the news that we can enjoy eternity in the presence of the Lord if we have placed our faith and trust in Him.

We already knew that we possessed an eternal soul. But we will possess an eternal body as well. For the children of God this is a great blessing, for we will live in perfect and immortal bodies like the one in which Jesus rose from the dead. We will experience the joy of His love and the light of His countenance forever and ever. We will never have to fear illnesses, injuries, the death of a loved one, or our own death. Isaiah rejoices in this knowledge and says of the Lord that, "He will destroy the shroud that enfolds all peoples, the sheet that covers all nations; He will swallow up death forever. The Sovereign Lord will wipe away the tears from all faces; He will remove His people's disgrace from all the earth. The Lord has spoken." (Isaiah 25:7-8)

People from all nations and tribes have accepted God as their Lord. This will continue to happen right up until the end. A glorious resurrection is in store for people who have existed all around the world who have rejected idolatry and have given their allegiance to the one and only living God. This is why Isaiah can say that "all peoples" and "all nations" will share in the relief of never again experiencing the discomfort of living in a frail mortal body and of never again fearing the things that can happen to a mortal body. 

In Revelation 21, when the things Isaiah foresaw have come to pass, the Apostle John hears a loud voice declaring from God's throne room in heaven: "Look! God's dwelling place is now among the people, and He will dwell with them. They will be His people, and God Himself will be with them and will be their God. 'He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death' or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away." (Revelation 21:3-4) This is a direct quote from Isaiah 25, as notated in our Bibles. 

God, in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, will dwell with mankind. Christ will take the throne of David, as foretold many times on the pages of the Bible, and will reign from Jerusalem over the restored and remade earth and over "His people". We must be careful to take to heart that this message, however, is only for the redeemed. These are the people among whom God the Son will dwell. These are the people who will enjoy an Eden-like existence on a planet that has no more curse of sin upon it. These are the people who will behold the face of the Redeemer who wipes away all tears and who destroyed the power of death over those who have placed their trust in Him. 

The glorious promise contained in Isaiah 25 and in Revelation 21 is not for every person who ever has or ever will exist. The offer of salvation certainly is made to every person who ever has or ever will exist, but that offer has not been accepted by all. Therefore, the promise of living forever in the presence of the Lord on an earth where conditions will be perfect, where no sin will never enter, and where our bodies can never become sick or injured or fall prey to death, is made only to those who have accepted the Lord's merciful offer of salvation. The offer of salvation is made to all people but the promise of an eternity in the presence of the Lord is made only to His people. 

That fact is made clear by the text we conclude with today. "In that day they will say, 'Surely this is our God; we trusted in Him, and He saved us. This is the Lord, we trusted in Him; let us rejoice and be glad in His salvation." (Isaiah 25:9) Isaiah could not have made it plainer that those who are enjoying a blessed eternity are those who trusted in the Lord and received His salvation. 

What happens to those who did not trust in Him and accept His free offer of salvation? We will be looking at that subject as we move on through our chapter and compare it with text from Revelation. They will have an eternal existence too, but it will not be the glorious one promised to the children of God.

The Book Of Isaiah. Day 106, Death Destroyed, Part One

Yesterday's segment of Chapter 25 contained praise from the prophet Isaiah. He praised the Lord for His judgment against wickedness and he praised the Lord for the help He gives those who call upon Him. Now we begin a segment where Isaiah praises Him for taking care of the biggest problem the mortal human body has. The Lord is going to destroy death!

Earlier in the book of Isaiah we foresaw the remaking of the heavens and the earth. Now we look at the conditions on the new earth. We look forward to the day when the King of kings reigns forever over the world from His throne in Jerusalem. We look forward to the day when there will be no more sin, illness, death, or mourning.

Jerusalem will someday be not only the capital of Israel but the capital of the whole world. The city of Jerusalem is what is in view here when Isaiah says: "On this mountain the Lord Almighty will prepare a feast of rich food for all peoples, a banquet of aged wine---the best of meats and the finest of wines." (Isaiah 25:6)  When Isaiah says "this mountain" he means Mount Zion---Jerusalem. 

Whether he is speaking of this fine food and drink literally or figuratively, I cannot say for certain, but I tend to think it's both. In the book of Revelation we learn that the earth will be restored to an Eden-like state when the Messiah reigns over it. The crops that grow then will be the finest crops grown since Adam was in the Garden of Eden, or perhaps they will be superior to those. If this is literal food and drink Isaiah speaks of, then it's the best of the best. And that's what we would expect the Lord to give His children, isn't it? After the earth is remade, and when the Messiah sits on the throne, only the redeemed will be living on the earth. At that time the Lord will be able to bless human beings as never before, for no one will ever commit a sin again. 

As well as referring to literal food and drink, I think the feast is symbolic of the eternal spiritual blessings of the Lord's people. Later in the book of Isaiah we will find the Lord appealing to the people to turn to Him to be satisfied all the way to their souls. We were created with a spiritual space that only the Lord can fill; everything else falls short of fully satisfying us. In turning to Him, our souls are fed. Our hearts are filled. That is why the Lord phrases it like this: "Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost. Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to Me, and eat what is good, and you will delight in the richest of fare." (Isaiah 55:1-2)

In the verses above, the food and drink appear to be spiritual in nature. Human beings thirst for the living God. Human beings hunger for the living God. So the Lord says, "Why waste your time and energy running after things of this world that will never satisfy your souls? Only a relationship with Me will satisfy your souls. I offer you salvation---and it is free to you! It cost Me a great deal to be able to make you this offer, but to you it is free."

We will be able to enjoy the Lord's blessings as never before, for death will be taken out of the picture. We will have immortal bodies like that of the Lord Jesus. Those bodies will never be capable of dying. "On this mountain He will destroy the shroud that enfolds all peoples, the sheet that covers all nations; He will swallow up death forever." (Isaiah 25:7-8a) Isaiah envisions the human race as being enfolded in a burial shroud because ever since man fell from grace, death has been the fate of the human body. But the Lord came to earth in the form of a man to set us free from the power of death. To quote the Apostle Paul: "For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive...The last enemy to be destroyed is death." (1 Corinthians 15:21-22,26) 

When the Apostle Paul says "all" will be made alive, he means those who have been redeemed, not all mankind. We know that not all of mankind ever has or ever will accept the Lord as their Savior. This is why Paul also says in that same passage, "those who belong to Him", to make it clear who will be given perfect immortal bodies like Christ's. 

It is going to take us another session or two to take a good look at the remainder of this passage. But it's a passage of good news! It's a passage that describes the destiny of those who belong to the Lord. 

The Book Of Isaiah. Day 105, Praise To The Lord For His Works

In Chapter 24 Isaiah shared with us his vision of the end times. He foresaw cataclysms upon the earth leading up to the final day of judgment. As Chapter 25 opens we find the prophet praising the Lord for all His works: His works of mercy upon those who seek Him, His works of judgment against sin. 

We should praise the Lord for His works of judgment as well as for His works of mercy. If He did not judge sin, He would not be righteous. How could we worship a God who turns a blind eye to sin? How could we exalt a God who does not avenge His children? The prophet praises the Lord for everything He does because everything He does is holy and perfect.

Isaiah begins: "Lord, You are my God; I will exalt You and praise Your name, for in perfect faithfulness You have done wonderful things, things planned long ago." (Isaiah 25:1) Before the Lord ever created the universe, before He created the earth and everything on it, before He created the first human beings, He knew everything He was ever going to do. He knew everything man was ever going to do. He made His plans long ago with the knowledge that the humans He created would transgress His holy laws, and in knowing this He made the plans for man's redemption.

It is up to us to accept or reject His offer of redemption. In this next segment we see the judgment that fell on sinful, idolatrous cities because the citizens rejected the Lord. "You have made the city a heap of rubble, the fortified town a ruin, the foreigner's stronghold a city no more; it will never be rebuilt." (Isaiah 25:2) Earlier in the book of Isaiah we found the prophet predicting the fall of nations that were the ancient enemies of the descendants of Jacob. Some, like Babylon, were predicted never to rise again. It did not matter how powerful the armies were or how thick the city walls were; the Lord brought down the nations that bowed to idols. The Lord brought down the nations that attacked and persecuted His people.

Because of the way the Lord avenges those who are His, many will develop a reverent fear of Him. "Therefore strong peoples will honor you; cities of ruthless nations will revere You." (Isaiah 25:3) This verse may or may not mean that any of these people will turn from idols and give their allegiance to the Lord. You will recall from our study of the days of Joshua that, when the children of Israel began moving in and taking over the land of Canaan as commanded by God, the nations that heard of them feared the Lord who gave the Israelites victory in battle. This doesn't mean those people turned from idols to the living God, although I am sure some did. (Rahab of Jericho is one example; she feared the God of Israel and hid the Israelite spies from her own people, which led to her and her family being saved from harm during the fall of Jericho, which led to her marrying a man of Israel and becoming an ancestor of Jesus Christ.) We do not know how many citizens of other nations may have come to a saving knowledge of the Lord in ancient times upon hearing of the power of the Lord, but it is certain that a large number of people from other nations believed He existed and that He worked on behalf of those who trusted in Him. 

This last segment we are going to study today involves the way the Lord works on behalf of those who call upon Him. "You have been a refuge for the poor, a refuge for the needy in their distress, a shelter from the storm and a shade from the heat. For the breath of the ruthless is like a storm driving against a wall and like the heat of the desert. You silence the uproar of foreigners; as heat is reduced by the shadow of a cloud, so the strong of the ruthless is stilled." (Isaiah 25:4-5)

The verses above can be taken both literally and figuratively. The Lord does indeed provide for us, supplying our needs and sheltering us in a literal way. But the verses above also symbolize His protection against the enemy. The enemy is like a storm battering against us but He says to this storm, "Peace, be still!" 

You and I may not have human enemies, although it's doubtful any of us will go through life without encountering people who don't like us and who wish us ill. But we all have an enemy who would love to keep us from living productive lives for the Lord. We have an enemy who wants to discourage us. We have an enemy who wants to harm our testimony for the Lord by enticing us into sin. We have an enemy who wants us to live in a joyless, hopeless manner so that we cannot attract anyone to the Lord by the way we live. Oh, but mighty is our Defender against him! And greater is He who is in us than he who is in the world! 

God is our refuge. God is our shelter. God is the One who says to the storm that rages against us, whether that storm is a problem in our life or a feeling in our heart: "Peace, be still!" God, in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, knew what it was like to live in this fallen world. He knew what it was like to have human enemies and to have a supernatural enemy. But He also knew that the child of God can have peace in the heart no matter which type of enemy comes against us, so He said: "In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." (John 16:33)

In Him we are overcomers. We can have peace in Him while living in a world that feels like it's falling down around us. We can have victory in Him against the schemes of Satan. We can have victory in Him against any humans who scheme against us. We can say along with Isaiah, "I will exalt You and praise Your name."

The Book Of Isaiah. Day 104, The Devastation Of The Earth, Part Five

Today we will be concluding our look at Chapter 24 which deals with the judgment in the end times. We find Isaiah describing great cataclysmic events.

"The floodgates of the heavens are opened, the foundations of the earth shake. The earth is broken up, the earth is split asunder, the earth is violently shaken. The earth reels like a drunkard, it sways like a hut in the wind; so heavy upon it is the guilt of its rebellion that it falls---never to rise again." (Isaiah 24:18b-20)

In the book of Revelation such a devastating takes place that the Apostle John will say that there has never been one like it since the creation of the world. That earthquake is likely what Isaiah foresees in our current chapter. Isaiah envisions the earth shaking so violently that he describes it as never rising again, not because the Lord is going to do away with the earth entirely, but because He is going to remake it into something new. The "old order" of things will pass away, as it is phrased in Revelation 21:4.

In Matthew 24 the Lord Jesus described the natural disasters that would occur between His own day up until the time of the Great Tribulation as "birth pangs". This is because the earthquakes and tsunamis and volcanic eruptions and wars between nations which would take place between His lifetime on earth until the end were a process of remaking this fallen world into something new. Just as a woman's labor pangs become more frequent and intense as the moment of birth arrives, the disasters and wars upon the earth will become more frequent and intense as the moment of "new birth" arrives.

The Lord is going to "make all things new" as He says in Revelation 21:5. He will do this by shaking the earth (shaking loose all that is wrong) and by judging all the sin that has taken place upon it. He will do this by shaking the heavens as well, by judging Satan and the angels who rebelled with him. Earth will not cease to exist and heaven will not cease to exist; instead they will be cleansed of all dark deeds and will enjoy an atmosphere that sin can never mar. Nothing wicked will ever happen again. Only those who love the Lord will inhabit the heavens and the earth; these inhabitants will behold His face and live in the light of His love forever.

What falls "never to rise again", as Isaiah puts it, is sin and the curse of sin that affected the entire creation. No rebellion against the Lord will ever rise again. Man will not fight against God. Man will not fight against man. Man will not fight against the animal kingdom, or the animal kingdom against man. The creation will be restored to a state of perfection.

But between now and then the birth pangs of that new creation must take place. The judgment of sin must take place. "In that day the Lord will punish the powers in the heavens above and the kings on the earth below. They will be herded together like prisoners bound in a dungeon; they will be shut up in prison and be punished after many days. The moon will be dismayed, the sun ashamed; for the Lord Almighty will reign on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, and before its elders---with great glory." (Isaiah 24:21-23)

When we arrive at the book of Revelation we will find the leaders of the nations in the last days banding together to rebel against the Lord for what will be the last time. The Lord---in the person Jesus Christ---will overthrow them by His power and great glory. Those still living and those already dead, who rejected the goodness and mercy of God, will be judged and sent to their final and eternal destination. Satan and the fallen angels will be judged and sent to their final destination. Then the Lord Jesus Christ will take His throne in Jerusalem and reign over the entire world---over all who belong to Him---in goodness and love for eternity. 

In that day no one will need the light of the sun or the moon (as Isaiah says, "the moon will be dismayed, the sun ashamed") because the glory of the presence of the Lord will put the lesser glory of those heavenly bodies to shame. The Apostle John described the light coming from the Lord's throne at Jerusalem like this: "I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp. The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it. On no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there." (Revelation 21:21-25)

A beautiful day is going to dawn, a beautiful day that will last forever, and that beautiful day is intended for those who have placed their trust in the Lord.

The Book Of Isaiah. Day 103, The Devastation Of The Earth, Part Four

Isaiah has been predicting some of the things that will happen in the end times. That is a serious and gloomy subject. But he also ended yesterday's study session on a positive note: there will be people who come to the Lord during those days and they will shout His praises and thank Him for His salvation.

I believe Isaiah's heart rejoiced when he foresaw the many who would give their hearts to the Lord. I think his spirits were lifted as he heard those voices raised in shouts of praise to God. But Isaiah is soon brought back down to earth when he looks around him and sees the problems of his own day. It is a sobering thought to realize how much sin will take place between his day and the day in which the Lord puts an end to sin forever. 

Right after envisioning the redeemed singing, "Glory to the Righteous One," his mood changes. "But I said, 'I waste away, I waste away! Woe to me! The treacherous betray! With treachery the treacherous betray!'" (Isaiah 24:16b-17) Isaiah will pass away and go to be with the Lord before the day comes when only righteousness will reign on the earth. He will not see the day, from earth, when the entire creation is redeemed. 

I think he is speaking of something more than just his dismay at knowing he won't be on earth to see this happen. I think he is feeling the feelings of all those who will live on earth between his lifetime and the day in which the Lord judges all wickedness and sets up an eternal holy kingdom. Isaiah envisions the terror of those upon whom the Lord's judgment falls. "Terror and pit and snare await you, people of the earth. Whoever flees at the sound of terror will fall into a pit; whoever climbs out of the pit will be caught in a snare." (Isaiah 24:17-18a)

There will be no escape for those who sneered at the Lord's offer of salvation and who rejected Him right up to the end. We've made mention of this previously, but even during the Great Tribulation when the Lord begins pouring out cups of wrath upon the earth, the majority of the world's citizens will not take the Lord's correction to heart. They won't acknowledge that their distress is of their own making. They won't repent and ask His forgiveness. Instead they will curse the name of God and continue to rebel against Him. This is why we find Isaiah saying something like, "You can run but you can't hide! Be sure your sins will find you out!"

We can have our sins covered by the blood of the Redeemer or we can stand before a holy Judge and have to answer for them ourselves. We can attempt to mount a useless defense or we can have the Lord Jesus standing beside us saying, "This one is Mine. I paid their penalty and they are set free from it." What better deal can anyone ever offer us than the one the Lord Jesus offers us? To quote the author of the book of Hebrews, "How shall we escape if we ignore so great a salvation?" (Hebrews 2:3a) 

The Lord Jesus Christ paid the price for our sin, but if we ignore this great opportunity for salvation, there remains no other remedy for us. We are lost in our sins. We must bear the penalty for our sins. But if we have accepted the Lord Jesus as our Savior and if we believe that His sacrifice has paid our debt of sin once and for all, we have become the sons and daughters of the living God because Christ will "bring many sons and daughters to glory". (Hebrews 2:10a) We who accept Christ as our Redeemer are the children of God---the brothers and sisters of Christ and the co-heirs of Christ. (Romans 8:17) 

We can have shame or we can have glory. We can have judgment or we can have justification. We can have eternal joy in the presence of the One who loves us most or we can have eternity separated from His love. The choice is ours and there is no day better than today for a person to make the right choice if they have not already made it. 

The Book Of Isaiah. Day 102, The Devastation Of The Earth, Part Three

Isaiah has been predicting the terrible times of the Great Tribulation. In our last study session he spoke of how there would be no new wine in those days and nothing to celebrate even if they had it. We talked about how this message of devastation is for the wicked of the earth, not for the children of God. This is something we must always keep in mind whenever we are reading about the perilous days of the end times and the final judgment to follow.

Today's session begins with Isaiah painting a picture of people living in fear, with many of them hiding in their homes with their doors barred. This is because because the things of this world that gave them a sense of security are no longer present. We also find people going in search of something to soothe their anxiety but no substance can be found with the power to do this. If only they had made the Lord their trust! He would have shielded them. But instead they rejected him, to their own peril.

"The ruined city lies desolate; the entrance to every house is barred. In the streets they cry out for wine; all joy turns to gloom, all joyful sounds are banished from the earth. The city is left in ruins, its gate is battered to pieces. So it will be on the earth and among the nations, as when an olive tree is beaten, or as when gleanings are left after the grape harvest." (Isaiah 24:10-13) 

I don't think any particular city is in view in the verses above. I think many cities will be in the condition Isaiah describes, for he says this will happen "among the nations". In the last days, in every nation in the world, cities will be enduring the woes described for us in the book of Revelation as cup after cup of the Lord's wrath is poured out on the earth.

Earlier in our chapter we were told that this great judgment comes because of the ways man has transgressed the beautiful and righteous laws of a holy God. But even in the midst of judgment, God is merciful. When we arrive at the book of Revelation we will learn that during the Great Tribulation the Lord is still making His offer of salvation and there will still be people accepting His offer. Even during the darkest days the world has ever known, and even during the era when sin will abound more than it ever has before, the Lord does not turn His back on mankind. He will still hold out His hand to man and there will still be people reaching up and taking His hand. I believe that's what Isaiah is foreseeing in this next segment.

"They raise their voices, they shout for joy; from the west they acclaim the Lord's majesty. Therefore in the east give glory to the Lord; exalt the name of the Lord, the God of Israel, in the islands of the sea. From the ends of the earth we hear singing: 'Glory to the Righteous One.'" (Isaiah 24:14-16a)

Who is shouting for joy? Who is giving glory to the Lord? Who is exalting His name? It's not those who are still deliberately wallowing in sin, refusing to repent and accept His mercy. It's not those who, in spite of His discipline for sin, continue to curse His name as they will in Revelation. Those who are praising the Lord are those who have trusted in Him for salvation. They are the ones shouting for joy in spite of the world falling apart around them. They are the ones exalting the name of the God who forgave them. They are the one praising the God who called them out of darkness into light, who exchanged their old life of sin for a new life in Christ.

During the last days, people from cities all over the world will mourn the devastation falling upon the earth but will not repent of the sin that is causing this devastation. But at the same time, people from cities all over the world will repent and turn to the living God, to the salvation of their souls.

It's important to remember that although there will be opportunities to turn to the Lord during the Great Tribulation, no one should put off turning to Him. Today is the day when the lost should turn to Him. We aren't guaranteed tomorrow. We aren't even guaranteed the next breath. Anyone who has not trusted the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior needs to do it now. 

Even if someone who is alive now is still alive when the end time events begin unfolding, and even if they accept the Lord as their Savior during that time, that is not a good time to be a citizen of the earth. Christians will be persecuted as never before during the era of the Antichrist. Natural disasters will be taking place as well; it is not a time anyone will want to endure. If we accept Christ before He calls His church out of the world, which I believe happens at the beginning of Chapter 4 of Revelation, we are not even going to be on the earth during the Great Tribulation. When the Apostle John is given his vision of the end times, he sees the church on the earth up until the end of Chapter 3. But at the beginning of Chapter 4 the Lord calls him to heaven in the vision, and from that point on John views events on earth from heaven and we no longer see the church mentioned as being on the earth. This is why I, and many people much more learned than I am, believe the church is called up to heaven at the beginning of Revelation 4. 

We will get into the subject of the end times in much more detail as we move on through the Bible but for now I cannot stress enough that today is the day of salvation. Today is always the best day to be saved. There is no better decision anyone could ever make. I've made a multitude of decisions during my fifty-four years on the earth and I've regretted some of them deeply but I have never and will never regret my decision to accept the Lord Jesus Christ as my Savior. 

The Book Of Isaiah. Day 101, The Devastation Of The Earth, Part Two

Chapter 24 deals with the final judgment of the Lord upon the deeds done on the earth. We concluded yesterday's passage with Isaiah saying that the earth will be "completely laid waste and totally plundered".

The Lord will not destroy the earth, not in the sense that it will cease to exist. But He will cleanse and remake the earth---and not only the earth, but the heavens as well, for the Apostle John was given a vision of new heavens and a new earth in Revelation 21. 

Why will the heavens need to be remade? It is clear in the Bible that Satan, though he has sinned against God, still has access to the Lord's throne room. We know this because he accuses us before the Lord (Revelation 12:10). For example, when we arrive at the book of Job we will find Satan, whose rebellion has already taken place sometime in the past, claiming that the only reason Job loves the Lord is because the Lord has caused Job to prosper. But a time is coming, in Revelation 12, when the Lord hurls Satan and his minions eternally from His presence, casting them down to the earth in the last days for judgment.

What we are studying in Isaiah 24 is end times prophecy, and in the coming days I will discuss my reasons for believing in a pre-tribulation rapture of the church, so we need to keep in mind that the terrible woes in those days are reserved for those who have rejected the Lord and for our accuser (Satan) and his minions. We need not fear and tremble when reading about these astonishing events because we, as believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, will be in heaven with Him when the most dreadful days of all time fall upon the earth.

When those days come, there won't be any reasons for those left on the earth to make merry. "The new wine dries up and the vine withers; all the merrymakers groan. The joyful timbrels are stilled, the noise of the revelers has stopped, the joyful harp is silent. No longer do they drink wine with a song; the beer is bitter to its drinkers." (Isaiah 24:7-9)

Those who are used to holding drunken celebrations find nothing to celebrate during the Great Tribulation, but still they don't turn to the Lord. They don't ask themselves, "Why is this happening?" They don't conclude, "It is because we have sinned against the Lord." They don't say, "Let us repent and turn to Him for mercy and salvation." Instead they will "curse the God of heaven" according to Revelation 16:11. 

How bitter does a soul have to be to curse the very One who created them, who offers them salvation, who is correcting them in His goodness in order to lead them in the right direction? How wicked and wayward does a heart have to be to reject the Lord's mercy? The Lord doesn't want to judge anyone! The Lord wants to save everyone! The correct way to respond to His discipline is to acknowledge that we have transgressed the laws of a holy God, to confess to Him that we are sinners, to ask Him to forgive and save us, and to commit our souls to Him. Then we will escape judgment! Then we can look forward to a blessed eternity in the presence of the One who loves us more than anyone has ever loved us.