Open the Bible UK Daily

“They shall come and shall see my glory…And from them I will send survivors to the nations. Isaiah 66:18-19 Some years ago, John Piper coined a memorable phrase: Missions exist because worship doesn’t. That’s true. The reason we send missionaries is that across the world there are millions of people who do not see Christ’s glory. The great purpose of mission is that Jesus Christ should be worshipp...

In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 2 Corinthians 4:4 Every weekend in church, there are people who come to worship. They sing hymns, appreciate the music, stand for the Bible reading, and listen to the sermon. But they don’t see Christ’s glory. That is our na...

“The time is coming to gather all nations and tongues. And they shall come and shall see my glory.” Isaiah 66:18 In heaven, everything you discover, everything you accomplish, and everything you enjoy will give you fresh glimpses of the glory of God. After a million ages in heaven, you will only have grasped the beginning of Christ’s glory. That’s why life in heaven will never be old or dull, but...

I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here I am! Send me.” Isaiah 6:8 Worship and mission are bound up so tightly together that you cannot separate one from the other. When worship declines, mission follows. One sure sign of a church losing its way in worship is that it loses its interest in mission. If you want to evaluate a church’s wors...

“For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” Luke 19:10 Jesus is the Son of Man who came to seek and save the lost. But how does He seek and save us? How God seeks people who ignore Him: This is why Jesus came into the world. God became man. The invisible God revealed Himself and made Himself known to us in Jesus Christ: “No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s si...

Thus says the LORD: “As the new wine is found in the cluster, and they say, ‘Do not destroy it, for there is a blessing in it,’ so I will do for my servants’ sake, and not destroy them all.” Isaiah 65:8 You pick up a cluster of grapes. Some of the grapes have gone bad. But you don’t throw them all away because some grapes in the bunch are good. You sort out the good from the bad. God says, “That i...

This people honours me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. Matthew 15:8 Religion is a mixed bag and much of it offends God, especially religion that is: Hypocritical (talking the talk but not walking the walk). Personalised (a projection of your own preferences and prejudices). Ritualistic (rites and disciplines that don’t change lives). Dark (seeking communication with spirits of the...

A people who provoke me to my face continually… These are a smoke in my nostrils, a fire that burns all the day. Isaiah 65:3, 5 Here are several more forms of religion that Isaiah identifies as offensive to God. Dark religion: People “who sit in tombs, and spend the night in secret places” (65:4). This brand of religion takes a great interest in the dead, seeking communication with the spirits of...

A people who provoke me to my face continually… These are a smoke in my nostrils, a fire that burns all the day. Isaiah 65:3, 5 Clearly there is a kind of religion that God does not like. It is not pleasing to Him; it actually provokes Him! Isaiah identifies several forms of religion that are offensive to God. Hypocritical religion: “A rebellious people, who walk in a way that is not good” (65:2)....

I spread out my hands all the day to a rebellious people, who walk in a way that is not good, following their own devices. Isaiah 65:2 The rebellious people described here in verse 2 are different from the people who did not ask for or seek God in verse 1. We know that because in the New Testament Paul quotes these verses and tells us that they refer to different people: “‘I have been found by tho...

I was ready to be sought by those who did not ask for me; I was ready to be found by those who did not seek me. I said, “Here I am, here I am,” to a nation that was not called by my name. Isaiah 65:1 What do you think God would have to say to people who don’t ask for Him and don’t seek after Him? You might expect Him to say: “There are many people in this world who completely ignore Me. They don’t...

I was ready to be sought by those who did not ask for me; I was ready to be found by those who did not seek me. I said, “Here I am, here I am,” to a nation that was not called by my name. Isaiah 65:1 Notice who Isaiah is describing here—people who do not ask for or seek God. We might call these secular people today. In Isaiah’s time, this group of people were known as the Gentiles. In the Old Test...

Oh that you would rend the heavens and come down… Isaiah 64:1 Here is prayer that you could pray: O, that You would rend the heavens and come down. Come down and make Your name known. Even among your own people many have such a vague grasp of Your glory. To many You seem distant. Let us see with fresh clarity, who You really are. By Your Holy Spirit, show us Your love, that we may know the love by...

O LORD, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand. Isaiah 64:8 Why would God listen to an unclean, unrighteous, dried out, and unstable person? Isaiah gives us two reasons here in Isaiah 64: First, plead the relationship you have with God (your Father): Notice Isaiah appeals to the covenant relationship he has with God: “O LORD, you are our Fathe...

We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away. Isaiah 64:6 When you pray, you will feel your unworthiness. We all do. Coming into a holy place makes you feel how unholy you are. Isaiah knew about this too, and he describes it using four pictures: A leper: “We have all bec...

I will recount the steadfast love of the LORD, the praises of the LORD, according to all that the LORD has granted us, and the great goodness to the house of Israel that he has granted them according to his compassion, according to the abundance of his steadfast love. Isaiah 63:7 How do you prepare to pray? One way is to fill your mind with the goodness of God. When you read the context of Isaiah...

Oh that you would rend the heavens and come down, that the mountains might quake at your presence-as when ire kindles brushwood and the ire causes water to boil-to make your name known to your adversaries, and that the nations might tremble at your presence! Isaiah 64:1-2 When Isaiah asks God to "come down and make your name known", he is asking for God to come down and make His power known. We ma...

Oh that you would rend the heavens and come down ... to make your name known to your adversaries, and that the nations might tremble at your presence! Isaiah 64:1-2 God’s name is a way of speaking about His character. So, when Isaiah prays that God would “come down… to make your name known,” what he is asking is that God would “come down and let us know who you really are.” Isaiah wants even God’s...

Oh that you would rend the heavens and come down, that the mountains might quake at your presence. Isaiah 64:1 Isaiah’s prayer was formed by the Bible and by his own experience. Isaiah knew from the Bible that God’s presence had come down to Mount Sinai, and when that happened, the whole mountain shook (Ex. 19:17-19). But this wasn’t just history to Isaiah. He had seen the earth-shaking glory of G...

“Whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith.” Matthew 21:22 Would you consider making it your goal this year to grow in the areas of faith and prayer? That may sound like two goals, but it is really one. For where faith grows, prayer follows. The greater our confidence in God, the more we will ask of Him. Our prayers are the clearest indication of what we really think about Go...

Oh that you would rend the heavens and come down... Isaiah 64:1 The Bible records some marvellous prayers and Isaiah 64 is one of the greatest. It is a prayer for revival and because it is in the Bible, we know it was breathed out by the Holy Spirit of God. It is often said that the best way of learning prayer is to pray with other people. There is some truth in that, but there is also this limita...

“If you pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the aflicted. then shall your light rise in the darkness.” Isaiah 58:10 There is a story of a monk who had given himself to prayer. All his life, he longed that just once, Christ would appear to him. He had prayed this for years, and then one day it happened. The monk was praying, and as he looked up, there he was: the Lord Jesus C...

Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant. Philippians 2:4-7 God’s purpose in sending His Son was to create a people who would become like Hi...

The LORD saw it, and it displeased him that there was no justice. He saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no one to intercede; then his own arm brought him salvation, and his righteousness upheld him. Isaiah 59:15-16 Do you see what Isaiah is saying? God is going to fight for our salvation. He comes to us and He stands with us as our Champion, when we could not break through to H...

Justice is far from us, and righteousness does not overtake us; we hope for light, and behold, darkness, and for brightness, but we walk in gloom. Isaiah 59:9 What hope is there for believers who have neglected justice? The answer is God: “Behold, the LORD’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save, or his ear dull, that it cannot hear” (59:1). But here’s the problem: “Your iniquities have made...