Sy Mrs. Bessie Wilbon1
*‘A New Day For God’s People”
Isaiah 2:2-4 December 4, 1983
INTRODUCTION
The prophet Isaiah was no blind optimist.
He suffered no delusions regarding the
degeneration in the society of his day. He
; was painfully aware of the evil in Judah and
; Jerusalem and did not hesitate to speak out
; against it. But Isaiah did nor despair.
; Dishonesty, injustice, irreligion, and im
morality were everywhere evident, and the
prophet did not see much to inspire hope in
the future. Would it be different if he lived in
our day? In this fabulous age man has
technical know-how to make of the earth a
veritable garden of Eden, but seems de
termined instead to turn it into a hell. It was
^iot much different in Isaiah’s day and since
he had never heard of evolution, his
confidence was not based on some theory
that man would just naturally become
better and better. Rather, when he spoke of
the future with assurance, it was an assur
ance rooted and grounded in God. Isaiah
was aware of the evil about him, but he also
knew of the power of God to bring reality a
new kind of life for His creation. He knew
that the new day would be the Lord’s doing,
not man’s.
LESSON BACKGROUND
Isaiah received his call to the prophetic
ministry “in the year that King Uzziah
died”, (Isaiah 6:1), about 740 BC. Uzziah
had been a good king, in general, but the
spiritual, moral and ethical life of the nation
had begun to deteriorate even before he
died. This decline continued during the
reign of his son Jotham. The latter “did that
which was right in the sight of the Lord,”
but the people worshipped pagan gods, (2
Kings 15:34-35) and were corrupt (2 Chron
icles 27:2).
The Kingdom Will Be Established (Isaiah
2:2) “And it shall come to pass in the last
days, that the mountain of the Lord’s house
shall be established in the top of the
mountains, and shall be exhalted above the
;hills; and all nations shall flow unto it.” The
"mountain of the Lord’s house is a refer
ence to the Kingdom of God, the church, the
-antitype of the existing Zion. This figure is
:made clear in one of the prophecies of
:;Daniel in which a stone “cut out without
;:hands” became a “great mountain, and
Tilled the whole earth,” (Daniel 2:34-35).
™ (V. 3) “And many people shall go and say,
-Come ye and let us go up to the mountain of
"the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob:
tand he will teach us of his ways, and we will
Irwafk in his path&; for out_of_Zian_shall go
Torth the law, and the word of the Lord from
^Jerusalem.” This coming kingdom will
^include not only the Jews; people from all
‘^nations will be attracted to it and accepted.
Note the joy and evangelistic fervor of
;these people as expressed in their words,
*“Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain
:of the Lord.” Their enthusiasm seems to
ilequal that of the man of whom Jesus spoke,
twho found a great treasure hidden in a field
Hand sold all that he had in order to possess
wit. Even today there are those who share
ithis eagerness for the Kingdom of God. Are
j»we among that number?
f The new day of which Isaiah spoke was to
?be a day when justice would be practiced,
fand men would no longer make war against
► one another. Instead of resorting to force to
►settle differences and difficulties, or even
►relying on international law, those of all
►nations who have responded to the word of
►the Lord will seek to settle their problems
►according to His will.
► Zion's Future Glory (Isaiah 62:1-3). This
►Scripture is taken from the last part of
glsaiali. God’s promise of Isaiah 2 would be
jrfulfilled, but it would be accomplished in
Ppart by severe judgment upon Israel for her
pins. The passing years would seem to bring
^despair. Yet even for such a time as this
►Isaiah had a word of comfort. There was a
►hope for the future that resided in the power
L4| God to bring into being a kind of life
►different from the present one. The pro
mised glory would certainly come.
[r Isaiah was not content that Israel forever
pemain in sin and darkness. Neither God
Pnor His prophet would cease to labor until
Hthe glory promised to Zion would be
[realized.
We can share the confidence of Isaiah,
yviore than that, we can rejoice in the fact
£that through Christ the new day of which
Hsaiah spoke has come - a day of light and
«iot darkness, a day of new life and hope.
With the psalmist we can declare, with a
confidence not even he could have known.
^‘This is the day which the Lord hath made,
jve will rejoice and be glad in it,” (Psalm
318:24). Those of us who consider this lesson
>oday should be able to go forth with
Renewed confidence in the way of the Lord
with a determination to walk in
w>th Him in 11131 w«y
.—.:.:
It Was.The Pouter ()j (uni Working Through Mr!"
Mrs Miller: “It Wasn’t Me Helping That Baby!”
By Teresa Simmons
Post .Managing Kditor
The baby lay motion
less even a small whim
per at this late hour would
have satisfied the fearful
mother. But there she lay
listless with a frown of
defeat upon her little face
Prayers had been" ex
hausted but not the
mother’s faith. She still had
enough of that to believe
God worked through peo
ple. So she picked up the
telephone and called Beu
lah Miller *
’’Mrs. Miller can you
come and see about my
baby, please?’’ the mother
asked.
"But my brakes on my
car are no good. I'll come
as soon as I can tomor
row,” Mrs. Miller replied
sympathetically.
But just as Mrs Miller
placed the phone on the
receiver and started wash
ing the dishes again she
heard vocie say. "Go
now." Mrs.-Miller jumped
in her car. ignoring the bad
brakes, and started her
journey to the mother's
home. There she observed
a motionless baby. .
"something is wrong with
its legs," Mrs Miller
thought.
Pity wasn’t the answer.
There was something
stronger within the heart
of Mrs. Miller, as if she was
once again becoming an
instrument of God to help
others. Mrs. Miller placed
her hands over the baby's
legs praising God for His
power. "It wasn’t me who
helped that baby." Mrs
Miller will tell you. “It was
the power of God working
through me."
Mrs. Miller left the baby
and mother sleeping peace
fully.
The next day the laugh
, ter rang throughout the
house. The baby was
perky, the mother was joy
ous simply because Mrs
Miller had obeyed the voice
she had heard for over 40
years. God beckoned to
Mrs. Miller through her
dreams. The message was
I-—
Beulah Miller. 71, has been teaching the Word of find
faithfully for over 40 years and founded the Home
Mission Prayer Band. < Photo By Teresa Simmons '
to spread His Word. "I was
about 29 then and I was in
the world and I wasn’t
ready .1 was running. I
didn't think I was quail
tied But I was lying on my
bed of affliction Everyone
thought I had died but
during that time I saw God
across a big ditch and He
was asking me, Why
don't you do what I tell you
to’’’ I said. 'Oh. I>ord. if you
just let ine up I’ll do what
you tell me to do ’ He then
said ‘Go home and teach
the Word of God. See
whom you can help
"I woke up and asked my
family if they had seen God
and they said no The’next
morning I felt better and I
got up." That same day
Mrs. Miller started the or
ganization of the Home
Mission Prayer Band
m nrst tamiiy and
friends did not take Mrs
Miller seriously. But then
when she began to organize
the Home Mission Prayer
Band, which is now 40
years old, those around her
began to respect the com
mitment she had made to
God and many decided to
become involved.
Her husband Joe Miller
has been with the group
since its conception and
has been the hymn leader.
Her sister joined later.
Others who have been with
the Prayer Band for mi
merous years include “
Lizzie Jennings, mother ot
the Band, and llosetta
Odum, leader
Presently" 'there are
about 20 active members
"Our mission is to go from
one home to another and
pray We help the sick and
needy and have sent money
nationwide to those who
need it." More importantly
Mrs Miller and the Prayer
Band, which has numbered
as many as 40. gains
souls for the Lord
Today Mrs ^liiler .is 71
and her husband 74 They
recently celebrated 54
years of marriage They
have two daughters. 12
grands and 21 great
grands and are active
members of James Chapel
Baptist Church near Fort
Mill
On most Mondays Mrs
Miller still visits the sick
Her special gifts from God
have become sort of a le
gend and people often call
her on the phone to pray for
them or to use her healing
hand.
Tuesday evenings are
meeting times for the
Prayer Rand.- "We report
on how people in the hos
pital or sick at home' are
doing and we take up
money from ourselves for
them "
The dreams that wor
ried Mrs Miller at the age
-contained a special _
message ”t was amonR a
crowd of people and I
would see God standing
before me In reality I went
to an older lady who said
there was something God
wanted me to do and she
said that I'd better get
ready to do it
The df“am hive come
true The crowd oi people
are those Mrs Milter have
come m contact with
throughout the past 40
years those who have
I.. ’ mehed by the power
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And as for God’s pre
sence in Mrs. Miller’s
dreams the interpretation
clear- He is never far
away from an open-hearf
”1 can't do a thing until
God tells me to do it.”
I"
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