“The righteous perisheth, and no man layeth it to heart: and merciful men are taken away, none considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come,” Isaiah 57:1.
Reading this verse today, it occurred to me that little real thought has been given to the meaning of this verse and its clear implications.
Every true believer is concerned with the very obvious decline in the number of those who adhere faithfully to the Word of God and openly stand for righteousness. The word ‘perisheth’ in our text carries the figurative meaning of ‘vanishing away’. Christians are ‘vanishing’ from society. The believer can plainly see this taking place. They are not deceived by the swelling ranks of those who ‘profess’ godliness but recognise it as a religion that can easily set aside any portion of God’s Word which they consider inappropriate and unsuited to them.
That is not the religion of Jesus Christ! “To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them,” Isaiah 8:20.
Now while there undoubtedly is an increase in the ranks of such false and empty ‘Christianity’, I believe we must acknowledge that there is a very obvious decline in the numbers of those who seek to believe the whole Bible and witness to others of its message.
The above verse deals with that which we see before us today, Christian.
Please note:
I. THE IGNORANCE OF MAN AS TO WHAT IS GOING ON AROUND HIM
Isaiah says: “The righteous perisheth, and no man layeth it to heart: and merciful men are taken away, none considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come.” Note the words “no man layeth it to heart” and “none considering”. What is happening is not noticed by mankind generally. (more…)