<\/p>\n
Context<\/b><\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
At the time of Isaiah, Israel was divided into two kingdoms. Isaiah was a prophet to Judah, at which time Judah was under great threat of attack from various nations, and heard rumors of various armies conspiring against them. Chapter 1 tells us Isaiah was a prophet during the reign of four different kings, Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah. Specifically at the time of the passage we are in, Assyria was a great threat to Judah, and Judah craved worldly security.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n In Isaiah 8:11-22 we have the people of Judah, fearful, looking around at their enemies, and terrified of nations attacking them. In such a time they have the choice of either trusting in the chariots and horses of men, or trusting in Yahweh. The Lord tells them to not fear the raging of the nations; but instead, fear the Lord of hosts, the Lord of heavenly armies, and honor him as holy; and if you do, he will be your sanctuary of protection and safety; but if you do not, he will be a stone of offense and a rock of stumbling, and you will fall and be taken.<\/span><\/p>\n John Calvin puts it thus, \u201c… for a sanctuary may be said to be a citadel situated in a lofty position, and a bulwark for defending and guarding the godly, but for destroying and overwhelming the ungodly, because they rashly stumble against it … \u00a0Let not the ungodly, therefore, imagine that they are stronger or wiser than God; for they will find that he excels them in both strength and wisdom, and that to their destruction.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n After this warning from the Lord, Isaiah makes a great statement of faith in verse 17 where he says, \u201cI will wait for the Lord, who is hiding his face from the house of Jacob, and I will hope in him.\u201d Isaiah is saying, though the nations rage, though there is every human reason to be afraid, I will wait on the Lord – though our need seems so dire and urgent, and the Lord is hiding his face from us, I will hope in him, and wait upon him! What faith it is that enables a man to wait on something which is hidden from him. Isn\u2019t that a crazy thing that Isaiah says the Lord is hiding his face from the house of Jacob? In these ancient cultures, if you turned your face upon someone, to look upon them, it was a show of favor – it meant that you were favorable toward them. But if you you turned your face away from them and did not look upon them, hiding your face from them as it were, you were not favorable toward them. That\u2019s a little bit of the imagery that Isaiah is getting at here. The manifestation of the favor of God is nowhere to be found. The Genesis 3:15 promised seed is hidden from their view, it has not yet been made manifest to them. But what does faith do? It waits and hopes in the Lord though His face may yet be hidden from them, because it knows that when God makes a promise, he keeps it. When God says it, it\u2019s done.<\/span><\/p>\n So Isaiah says, I am a sign to Israel, I am sent from God a signpost to warn Israel, to listen. And in verse 19 and 20, he rebukes Israel for seeking insight or wisdom from necromancers and mediums, rather than waiting on the Lord; and then gives a bleak picture of the distress, darkness, gloom and anguish which this people is in, in their rejection of God.<\/span><\/p>\n So I ask you, do any of you find yourselves, though you are nowhere in the same situation, with similar temptations as these people? Is there something in your life which your fear to such a degree, that you are trying to overcome it, apart from trusting in the Lord? Are you so caught up in temporal, earthly things that you\u2019ve decided to take matters into your own hands, and trust something of man, or your flesh, rather than God? Our sinful fear of things in this life, which in our case is so often a fear of the future, a fear of things that might happen – that fear is connected to a lack of a fear of God, a lack of a waiting on God, and a lack of a hoping in God. Those who have faith in unseen things that last forever, have no need to fear the seen things that don\u2019t. God has given us his promises, why should we fear his providences? If that is you today, God\u2019s command to you is to not fear them, but fear him. Fear him and he will be a sanctuary to you, do not and you will stumble and be crushed upon him. He is the safest place.<\/span><\/p>\n We are to fear God and we are to wait upon him. I am sure that someone who is reading this feels like Isaiah, in that they feel like God is hiding his face from them. His smile is nowhere to be found in your life. It may feel as if the favor of God is hidden from your view, and all you see are the sharp and painful edges of providence. Some of you may be in a place today where all you know is darkness and pain and suffering and you cannot see God anywhere, and he is all but hidden from your view. But if that is you today, the reason you cannot see him is because your eyes are shut to calvary. All you must do to see the favorable face of God toward you, is to look upon the cross where Jesus suffered and died for the sins of His people, and you will see that that is God himself showing himself to you. He is not in hiding for He has revealed himself at the cross, where the Son of God suffered beyond our comprehension and was forsaken by God so that we would never be. Isaiah was looking forward to the birth of the promised child because it pointed to the cross, and we look back upon his birth and see that it is under the shadow of the cross. If the cross of Jesus Christ is not enough for you in your dark times than nothing will ever be, and you will remain the gloom of anguish and thick darkness. But if you can look to Jesus Christ, and see his blood pouring out for you and it is precious to you, than there is no fear or darkness in which you cannot see the face of God, because the cross is proof that it will all work together for the good of those who love him and who are called according to his purpose. At the cross Jesus endured the greatest darkness ever known to man as he took the sins of his people upon himself, and was blasted with the fierce wrath of God toward sin. And yet it was out of this greatest darkness that brightest light shone. The light of the world was crucified as a criminal, yet not even the darkness of death and burial could put out that light! It burned a hole right through death and the grave and can never be shut out.<\/span><\/p>\n \n After Darkness, Light, v. 1, 2<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Calvin, \u201cHe speaks of future events in the past tense, and thus brings them before the immediate view of the people, that in the destruction of the city, in their captivity, and in what appeared to be their utter destruction, they may behold the light of God.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n These verses describe to us the light which has shone upon the darkness of Zebulun and Naphtali. In Matthew chapter 4, after Jesus victoriously comes out of the darkness of being tempted by Satan in the wilderness, he begins his preaching ministry, preaching in the lands of Zebulun and Naphtali. Matthew then quotes this very passage from Isaiah, showing its literal fulfillment.<\/p>\n We also see this fulfilled in Christ’s coming, beyond the Jews only, as Christ came to break down the dividing wall of hostility between Jew and Gentile, and those outside of Israel can come to have the full benefits of the New Covenant in Christ. The Gentiles who once walked in utter darkness, have now also, seen a great light; as they were in such darkness in former times, without the law, without the prophets, and without the covenants. But now the light of Christ has come to them.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Why has a great light shone upon the Gentiles? Because, v. 6, \u201cFor to us [Israel] a child is born, to us a son is given\u2026\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n The very one who is a stone of offense and a rock of stumbling, to Israel, who came from Israel, is the light and joy of the nations. Israel, who has brought a blessing to the world, has rejected its own light.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Furthermore, we understand this to be true in the conversion of the individual, not merely at a general level. Apart from Christ each one of us walked\/walks in the utter darkness of sin, blinded by the god of this world, with no light. But when Christ arrests a man with salvation, the scales fall off, the darkness flees, and light reigns, as God’s Word becomes a lamp for his feet, and light for his path, as they walk in the light, as God is in the light, and as God is light (1 John 1).<\/p>\n After Sorrow, Joy, v. 3<\/p>\n God has multiplied the nation, He has multiplied the true Israel, which is not merely ethnic Israel, but the it is the people of God, it has been multiplied with the light shining upon the Gentiles. After the great length of time which Israel sat in sorrow and waiting for the promised child, the child has come and joy he brought with him, which pushes out the sorrow.<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n Isaiah gives a couple images to describe this joy. The first is the joy that comes at harvest. This is a joy that comes after a long season of sowing and waiting. When the harvest comes, and you see that your labors have paid off in great reaping, you are filled joy. It is the joy that comes in waiting on the Lord, and then he comes.<\/p>\n The next is the joy of dividing the spoil. This is the joy that comes when the enemy is defeated, the battle is won, and you reap the spoils of war. In the gospel, it is Christ who fights the enemy for us, and in Him, we reap the spoils of the war He won. We reap the benefits of His work.<\/p>\n After oppression, Freedom, v. 4<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Ever since the days of Egypt, Israel had been in and out of captivity and bondage to various nations.<\/span><\/p>\n Yet, their physical oppression is just a picture of theirs and our spiritual oppression apart from Christ. The yoke of sin is a merciless and cruel taskmaster to which we all once were enslaved and oppressed, but Jesus Christ has come and smashed the chains of sin and broken its oppression that we may be free to obey Christ and say no to sin.<\/span><\/p>\n I can\u2019t help but think of the words from the hymn, And Can It Be: <\/span><\/p>\n Long my imprisoned spirit lay,<\/span> <\/p>\n After War, Peace, v. 5<\/b><\/p>\n <\/p>\n The imagery here shows the end of all war because the enemy is defeated. When we read the Old Testament it is almost as if Israel is perpetually at war, they knew it and it\u2019s destruction very well. Even in our world today, despite the great devastation and evils of war we have seen, we continue to live in a world of never ending war. But it will end one day.<\/span><\/p>\n However, the war that mankind has declared upon God is far more wicked and destructive than any war between nations. But Jesus defeats the enemy, by making his enemies his friends, and he will one day throw the rest into hell forever. There will be no more war against God. <\/span><\/p>\n Christ will bring real, physical peace one day in the New Heavens and New Earth, but now we can have the most important peace, and that is Peace with God, Romans 5:1, \u201cTherefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.\u201d This peace with God is not only the fact that Christ has caused us to lay down our arms against God, but that the righteous and holy wrath of God toward us has been satisfied for us in the Lord Jesus Christ and His work on the cross. Therefore, God’s bow is no longer bent toward us, but only his love.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n After Tyrants, a Child, v. 6<\/b><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Out of all the darkness and misery of sin and the world, the one who will come to break the bonds oppression and set the captives free, has come a baby, as a child, as a Son given. How will all this conquering and liberty and peace be accomplished? Through the coming of a child. So many of the Jews were looking for a political, earthly, conquering king to overthrow the Romans, and so they missed the baby in manger, and crucified him. Little did they know that in the crucifixion the enemy was overthrown. Little did they know that Romans were not their main oppressors but sin and unbelief was. It is God\u2019s way of working against the wisdom of the world to put to shame those who think themselves wise in their own eyes. And in the incarnation, his first advent he entered the world in the most unlikely way, yet it was the way in which the prophets of old prophesied, as a child. Though a child, yet a king! Though a babe, a mighty God! <\/span><\/p>\n The world likes to laugh and mock the birth of Christ because it is such a tender and weak thing in their eyes. But that babe in a manger is stone of offense and a rock upon which they stumble and are crushed in their foolishness.<\/span><\/p>\n No other king or ruler has ever been able to bear the burden or righteous government. They have all fallen to various degrees of vice, wickedness, and injustice, which harm and oppress their subjects. But this child that is coming, can and will bear the burden of governance on his shoulders. Moses couldn\u2019t do it, David couldn\u2019t do it, Solomon couldn\u2019t do it, none of them, but the Lord Jesus Christ.<\/span><\/p>\n Christ is now governing all things, Lord of all. Though it has not been fully consummated in the New Earth, it is no less true. Christ reigns by providential sovereignty, and he sits on the throne of the hearts of his people, ruling and governing their lives by His Word and Spirit.<\/span><\/p>\n Next, the name of this great ruler is given. Each title describes something of his rule. “Wonderful Counselor” shows us that He rules with supreme and happy wisdom. His counsels are wonderful. He is wise. “Mighty God” shows us his strength. It would be no good to be wise and yet have no strength to carry out ones decrees; and it would also be no good to have great strength and yet not know what to do with it. Christ is both. All wise, all powerful. “Everlasting Father” shows us simply that he is and will always be a provider and a caretaker for his people, not meant to confuse the persons of the Trinity. “Prince of Peace” is pretty self-explanatory, his rule will bring peace. He is not a war-monger or blood-thirsty military hawk.<\/p>\n After Time, Eternity, v. 7<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cChrist\u2019s kingdom is everlasting, because He dieth no more\u2026\u201d – John Calvin<\/span><\/p>\n What happened in Bethlehem, did not stay in Bethlehem, nor did it cease there, it spread to the nations and abides forever. The rule and reign of Christ knows no end. It is not a fad or a blip in time as every other kingdom has been. Christ’s reign is eternal and unending and will never be thwarted or threatened. To oppose it is the utmost point of folly.<\/span><\/p>\n If you think this is too good to be true, if you think that this type of world is impossible to accomplish it because you do not know who the Lord is. This is not a city built with human hands, but this will be built and accomplished by the zeal of the Lord of hosts.<\/span><\/p>\n This is the truth. This is reality. This is what Christ came to accomplish and that will be fully consummated one day. And this is the call to you today: fear God, wait upon his Spirit, and hope in Christ. You have two options. You can submit to the Lordship of Christ in your life and find him to be your sanctuary and hiding place, or you can reject him, and stumbling upon him and be crushed. Do you know yourself to be a great sinner, in great darkness, and in its bondage? Then look to the light of the world who is the Son of God who crushed the bonds of sin on the cross and gave his life to forgive sins. That very Christ, is reigning now, and though he died he is not dead. There is nothing more secure than being a humble subject of such a good and mighty King, and there is nothing more foolish and deadly than declaring your independency from such a king. Bow the knee to him today.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Context At the time of Isaiah, Israel was divided into two kingdoms. Isaiah was a prophet to Judah, at which time Judah was under great threat of attack from various nations, and heard rumors of various armies conspiring against them. Chapter 1 tells us Isaiah was a prophet during the reign of four […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":685,"featured_media":3682,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"wds_primary_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[22,25,27,30,32],"tags":[167,169,205,208,248,271,274,280,557,585,612,662,678,679,687,699,701,716,765,780,787,882,958,993,1014,1056,1067,1080,1105,1114,1225,1226],"class_list":{"0":"post-3681","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-commentary","8":"category-faith","9":"category-gospel","10":"category-preaching","11":"category-theology","12":"tag-babe","13":"tag-baby","14":"tag-bible","15":"tag-birth","16":"tag-calvin","17":"tag-child","18":"tag-christ","19":"tag-christmas","20":"tag-god","21":"tag-happiness","22":"tag-holiday","23":"tag-isaiah","24":"tag-jenkins","25":"tag-jesus","26":"tag-john","27":"tag-joshua","28":"tag-joy","29":"tag-king","30":"tag-lord","31":"tag-lux","32":"tag-manger","33":"tag-old","34":"tag-post","35":"tag-prophet","36":"tag-rags","37":"tag-riches","38":"tag-rule","39":"tag-salvation","40":"tag-scripture","41":"tag-sermon","42":"tag-tenebras","43":"tag-testament","44":"entry"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2018\/12\/for-unto-us-a-child-is-born-white-and-gold-jodie-marie-anne-richardson-traugott-aka-jm-art.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3570,"url":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/a-substitute-for-the-guilty-commentary-on-genesis-44\/","url_meta":{"origin":3681,"position":0},"title":"A Substitute for the Guilty: Commentary on Genesis 44","author":"Joshua Jenkins","date":"May 21, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"There are three elements to the narrative that will guide our thought concerning this passage here: Joseph's Test, The Brother's Guilt, and Judah's Plea. Joseph's Test Verse 1:\u00a0The passage begins with Joseph filling the brother's sacks full and putting their money back in their sacks. In other words he continues\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Commentary"","block_context":{"text":"Commentary","link":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/category\/commentary\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2018\/05\/open-bible.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2018\/05\/open-bible.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2018\/05\/open-bible.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2018\/05\/open-bible.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2018\/05\/open-bible.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2018\/05\/open-bible.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4344,"url":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/the-weapons-of-our-warfare-jehoshaphat-vs-the-horde\/","url_meta":{"origin":3681,"position":1},"title":"The Weapons of Our Warfare: Jehoshaphat vs. The Horde","author":"Joshua Jenkins","date":"February 8, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"After this\u00a0the Moabites and Ammonites, and with them some of the Meunites,[a]\u00a0came against Jehoshaphat for battle.\u00a02\u00a0Some men came and told Jehoshaphat, \u201cA great multitude is coming against you from Edom,[b]\u00a0from beyond the sea; and, behold, they are in\u00a0Hazazon-tamar\u201d (that is,\u00a0Engedi).\u00a03\u00a0Then Jehoshaphat was afraid and set his face\u00a0to seek the\u00a0Lord, and\u00a0proclaimed\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Commentary"","block_context":{"text":"Commentary","link":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/category\/commentary\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2021\/02\/jehoshaphat.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4227,"url":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/hardened-hearts-fulfilled-prophecy\/","url_meta":{"origin":3681,"position":2},"title":"Hardened Hearts, Fulfilled Prophecy","author":"Joshua Jenkins","date":"October 20, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"37\u00a0Though he had done so many signs before them, they still did not believe in him,\u00a038\u00a0so that the word spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled: \u201cLord, who has believed what he heard from us, \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?\u201d 39\u00a0Therefore they\u00a0could not\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Commentary"","block_context":{"text":"Commentary","link":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/category\/commentary\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2020\/10\/Isaiah.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3578,"url":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/his-dying-breath-has-brought-us-life-commentary-on-genesis-49v1-27\/","url_meta":{"origin":3681,"position":3},"title":"His Dying Breath Has Brought Us Life: Commentary on Genesis 49v1-27","author":"Joshua Jenkins","date":"June 26, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 In this chapter we see a great deal of length and detail given to Jacob\u2019s blessing of his sons. We must understand that there are great thematic elements of a father\u2019s blessing to his sons on display here that are a theme throughout Scripture, and carried on into the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Commentary"","block_context":{"text":"Commentary","link":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/category\/commentary\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2018\/06\/81gyfu-6m6l-_sx463_.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4446,"url":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/when-the-mountains-skip-like-rams\/","url_meta":{"origin":3681,"position":4},"title":"When the Mountains Skip like Rams","author":"Joshua Jenkins","date":"April 29, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"When\u00a0Israel went out from Egypt, \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0the house of Jacob from\u00a0a people of strange language, 2\u00a0Judah became his\u00a0sanctuary, \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Israel his dominion. 3\u00a0The sea looked and fled; \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Jordan turned back. 4\u00a0The mountains skipped like rams, \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0the hills like lambs. 5\u00a0What\u00a0ails you, O sea, that you flee? \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0O Jordan, that you turn back?\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Church History"","block_context":{"text":"Church History","link":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/category\/church-history\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2021\/04\/jordan.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2021\/04\/jordan.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2021\/04\/jordan.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1572,"url":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/a-biblical-theology-of-holiness\/","url_meta":{"origin":3681,"position":5},"title":"A Biblical Theology of Holiness","author":"Edward Larow","date":"May 3, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"SETTING THE STAGE In the beginning God spoke all things into being with the mere utterance of his voice. There was not a thing that was made apart from His sovereign decree. One creature, man, was the pinnacle of God\u2019s creation. For man was created in the image and likeness\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"bible\"","block_context":{"text":"bible","link":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/tag\/bible\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2017\/05\/large_the-essential-warfare-for-holiness-kzsbisil.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2017\/05\/large_the-essential-warfare-for-holiness-kzsbisil.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2017\/05\/large_the-essential-warfare-for-holiness-kzsbisil.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2017\/05\/large_the-essential-warfare-for-holiness-kzsbisil.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2017\/05\/large_the-essential-warfare-for-holiness-kzsbisil.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2017\/05\/large_the-essential-warfare-for-holiness-kzsbisil.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3681","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/685"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3681"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3681\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3682"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3681"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3681"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3681"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n<\/span>Fast bound in sin and nature\u2019s night;<\/span>
\n<\/span>Thine eye diffused a quick\u2019ning ray\u2014<\/span>
\n<\/span>I woke, the dungeon flamed with light;<\/span>
\n<\/span>My chains fell off, my heart was free,<\/span>
\n<\/span>I rose, went forth, and followed Thee.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n