“No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their righteousness is of Me, saith the LORD.” (Isaiah 54:17)
There are four big items in this Scripture, distinct yet related. No weapon, none, whatsoever, anywhere, devised against the saints shall prosper. This is quite a promise. What is our attitude when hearing those words? It should be joyous. No sticks, stones or words will push forward and do its damage to us. Whatever the weapon used against us will not have any effect on us, neither in our spirit, our soul or body. Right away we can object to the body part. But in thinking about it, the weapons used on those who are persecuted by beatings and other means of bodily harm do not do its damage intended. “Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against His anointed, saying, Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us. He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision. Then shall He speak unto them in His wrath, and vex them in His sore displeasure.” (Psalms 2:1-5) It’s intended aim is to get the person to deny the Lord, to deny the life that Jesus has given them. So, this Scripture in Isaiah is not at all a claim to be free from any weapon that comes against us, but its promise is that it will not do its ultimate damage to our faith, our love, our commitment and devotion to our Lord. “Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:37-39)
Peter and John were brought before the Jewish Council for healing the lame man and preaching Jesus. Peter filled with the Holy Spirit, preached the Gospel to them. The Council ordered them not to preach but had to let them go because of the people who glorified God for the miracle. (Acts 4:1-22) When they returned to the other saints, they quoted Isaiah and prayed for boldness. “And now, Lord, behold their threatenings: and grant unto Thy servants, that with all boldness they may speak thy word, By stretching forth Thine hand to heal; and that signs and wonders may be done by the name of Thy holy child Jesus. And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness.” (Acts 4:29-31) When persecuted, pray for boldness and proclaim the Gospel even louder.
The next part of that Scripture states that “...every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn...” When unbelievers speak against us, we shouldn’t feel any hurt. We know the source of their contempt. But we do need to condemn those words. To condemn them is to declare them to be wrong because they are lies coming from the pit of hell. “And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.” (Revelation 12:10) The accuser accuses us before other brethren to bring division in the church, accuses us to the unbeliever and before God. But we have the power to condemn those accusations. It may seem little to declare them to be wrong, but using the Word of God is powerful because God’s Word is alive and powerful to cut down the lies of the devil. (Hebrew 4:12)
This is our heritage. It’s the heritage of Jacob for God has spoken it. (Isaiah 58:14) It’s the heritage of those who fear His Name. (Psalm 61:5) It is our possession to take hold of and declare as ours. Then God’s promise fulfilled in Jesus opens up the treasure trove of God for those who love Him and believe in Him. “But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared, Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; Which He shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; That being justified by His grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.” (Titus 3:4-7)
Not only does God open up His treasure trove to us, but clothes us with His righteousness. “But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:” (Romans 3:21-22) Yes, we fail in our flesh, but our spirits are pure, holy and righteous before God and the whole created world, seen and unseen.
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