What does it means to preach the gospel to yourself daily?
Jerry Bridges puts it well, “To preach the gospel to yourself, then, means that you continually face up to your own sinfulness and then flee to Jesus through faith in His shed blood and righteous life. It means that you appropriate, again by faith, the fact that Jesus fully satisfied the law of God, that He is your propitiation, and that God’s holy wrath is no longer directed toward you.”
In this study, we will see how Isaiah teaches us to preach the gospel to ourselves. After all, there is no more important truth to know and trust in than the Gospel - and we must preach it to ourselves everyday.
(A) Recount God’s Character: The steadfast love of our redeeming Saviour (Isa 63:7-9)
In Isaiah 63:7, we see how the prophet is recounting characteristics of God. Consider the bookends of this verse — the steadfast love of the LORD. YHWH, the covenantal name, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, is the promise-making and promise-keeping God. Thus, Isaiah is not just speaking of any God, but this God. He recounts His steadfast love.
He also speaks of the praises of the LORD, according to all He has granted us, the great goodness that He has granted according to His compassion.
Picture these words coming from a suffering saint in exile. Imagine the pain and suffering he’s been through, the death and affliction endured. Instead of despair, instead of self-pity, he turns to remembering God’s character.
How instructive for us to consider how we can preach the gospel to ourselves. We may be tempted to read and learn about all the stuff, or turn inwards on ourselves to think about ourselves and our self-pity, Isaiah reminds us here to start first with who God is. It is what he opens with, and it is what frames his thoughts and his arguments — the steadfast love of our great, covenantal, compassionate God. If you are wondering how to pray, or preach to yourself, this is a great way - thank God that He is a good and loving God. Amen and amen.
What does he do after looking at God’s character? He connects it with what God has said and done (Isa 63:8-9).
The ESV Study Bible offers a helpful explanation here — God gave himself to Israel as her Saviour, but she betrayed him (c.f. Isa 1:2–4). Isaiah is not saying that God miscalculated, but that His people did not respond as they should have.
What else did He do? Isaiah 63:9 is full of verbs that help us to see what God has said He will do, and also does. In all their affliction, he was afflicted. He saved them. He redeemed them. He lifted them up and carried them all the days of old.
Isaiah connects God’s character to His words, His promises and His deeds. This is not an arbitrary thought, or a theoretical figure. These characteristics are rooted in history, in acts of love, in promises kept, in self-sacrifice — in all their affliction he was afflicted.
So who is God, and what has God done for us? He has become our Saviour. In our affliction, he was afflicted. He suffered, bled and died for our sake. On the account of His own Son, we are redeemed. Our debt of sin and death is repaid — it is no more. Out of the depths of our sin and death - in His love and in His pity, He lifted us up and sustained us till this day. Preaching the Gospel to yourself looks like reminding yourself of these truths, and feeling them.
Perhaps in our busyness and in our own smarts our hearts have grown cold to this truth. Or perhaps we’ve not quite had the experience of suffering or dying, so we don’t quite appreciate how wonderful it means to be redeemed or lifted up or carried. Friends, can I challenge us to sit in this for a moment tonight, if not now? The God of all creation, the Almighty God, has become your Saviour. That God would number the hairs on our head! Do not believe the lies this world tells us that we are not loved, or that we are alone, or that we need to save ourselves. Do not believe for a second that your trials and tribulations are too great for God. Run from the lie that tells you that you are far too sinful to be forgiven and saved and redeemed. To that, God says “Surely they are my people.”
Preaching the gospel to ourselves begins with “Recounting God’s Character: The steadfast love of our redeeming Saviour”.
(B) Recall Our Sin: Rebellion that grieves God and deserves judgement (Isa 63:10)
We rebel against the same God who is our Saviour and we see that that grieves Him (Isa 63:10a).
The fundamental problem here is that we rebel —- we reject God and who He is, we reject His rightful place as our Lord, we fight back and claw at Him, we turn and run from Him so we do not need to submit to Him. The Bible has a word for that —- sin. Sin is fundamentally a rebellion against God. It’s not just about doing bad things, or disobeying His law — at the root of sin is our rebellion and rejection of who God is.
And it grieves the Holy Spirit! What a thought, that the cosmic and mighty God is also a relational God who cares deeply for His people. I get a glimpse of that as a father, but can you just imagine this? Notice how we’ve turned our gaze from God to ourselves as we preach — not to trump ourselves up or defend ourselves, but to recognise the sin that is in our lives. Hand in hand with recognising our great and merciful God, is recognising who we are and how depraved and heartbreaking our sin is. We are a people who deal falsely, and who grieve our father God.
Preaching the gospel to ourselves means we see our sin clearly for what it is - it is a rejection of God, and it is a grievous thing.
We see that the consequence of sin is not just a slap on the wrist. In our sin, we have made God our enemy (c.f. Isa 63:10b). Our holy God cannot stand sin. He will not dwell with it, He will not let it go without consequence. Our sin is an offence to God, and He demands a price to be paid. What a frightening thought, that God Himself would fight against us. Can you think of a more hopeless place to be?
Preaching the gospel to ourselves means we see sin not just as a rejection of God, not just as something that grieves Him, but as something that angers Him. Our God who is loving and compassionate is also a wrathful and judging God, who fights for justice and condemns sin.
For those of us who do see and recognise our sin - are we too light and flippant with our sin? Preaching the gospel to ourselves means we do not lie to ourselves about the gravity and weightiness and the wrath that our sin incites. We do not kid ourselves with thinking we can control ourselves, rearing our secret sins in the dark. It means we see sin for what it is — serious, grievous, and offence to God and worthy of judgement.
For those of us who don’t think we’ve rebelled or perhaps measure ourselves on a scale of “at least I’m not that bad”, Romans 3:10–20 reads:
“None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.”
“Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive.” “The venom of asps is under their lips.”
“Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.”
“Their feet are swift to shed blood; in their paths are ruin and misery, and the way of peace they have not known.”
“There is no fear of God before their eyes.”
Friend, none is righteous. God’s wrath is against you too.
See sin for what it is, and run from it!
What then? Does that mean we are heavy-handed and unforgiving with ourselves? That we lie crushed under the weight of our own sin? Perhaps there’s a place for that, but that’s why this next section is so important. God is a wrathful God who demands judgement, but He is also a merciful God.
(C) Remember God’s Mercy: Our faithful God who saves a sinful people for His glory (Isa 63:11-13)
In Isaiah 63:11-13, Isaiah calls to mind Moses and the episode of the Exodus from Egypt. His goal is to show us who God is. God is a merciful God who hears our cries and acts. He listens, and just as He said He would — He saves and delivers.
Imagine what this would be like for His people in exile. Isaiah says with certainty, the God who delivered us up out of Egypt, will deliver us from exile and into His glorious kingdom. The same God who delivered His people then for His glory will do the same now for His namesake. The same God who divided the waters will protect and sustain us. The same God who appeared in a pillar of fire to guide His people will guide us now that we may not stumble. The same God who dwelt with them then, dwells with us now.
What a comfort — to know that the God of old is the same God we come before today. That these truths apply to us too. Our promise keeping God keeps these promises to us as well. But how does this saving happen? What’s our equivalent of the Exodus episode?
(D) Repent, Rest, Restore and Reorder: Pray for soft hearts and seek God’s presence (Isa 63:14-19)
Having looked at who God is, what sin is, and what He has done, what is an appropriate response? Isaiah 63:14-19 shows us at least four ways to respond.
Firstly, repent (Isa 63:17). Isaiah prays and asks God to soften their hearts. The same God who hardened Pharaoh’s heart can soften ours. May we pray that our sovereign God softens our hearts that we may fear Him, know Him and may not wander from His ways.
Secondly, rest (Isa 63:14). Trusting in the holy God lets us rest in Him. What a picture of peace this is!
Thirdly, restore (Isa 63:15-16). This is a call for God to restore us to Himself. He prays that God will restore His compassion that He lavishly showed, that He will restore His might and zeal that protected and redeemed, and will restore the people to be in relationship with Him. Our chief goal is to be restored to relationship with God.
Fourthly, reorder (Isa 63:18-19). Isaiah prays that God will make them holy again. He desires that they reorder their loves, heart and their worship. Isaiah prays that they may not be like those God never ruled, those who did not get to call Him their God. He desires for God’s help to worship Him, as we so rightfully should, instead of rebelling against Him.
As Christians today, Hebrews 3:21-26 also show us how we can respond. Just like how Isaiah called to mind the great deliverance in Exodus, we are to call to mind Jesus’ redeeming love and deliverance on the cross. Our sins have been paid for as He lived the life we were to live and the death we ought to die. He bore God’s wrath and we have exchanged our sin for His righteousness by faith.
God used all these things in history to show His great love and fulfil His plan of redemption. God’s deliverance is fulfilled and fully complete in Jesus Christ.
What then is an appropriate response? How do we preach the gospel to ourselves? The earlier table gives us a helpful model and application. We are to:
Repent of our sin. We turn from sin and make repentance a daily habit. We are real and honest, not flippant with sin. We do not hide and bring our sin into the light.
Rest in His mercy. We can rest and fully rest, knowing that God is not at war with us. We can also be confident in Christ’s redeeming work on the cross and that it is sufficient to redeem us and to restore us back to Him. His wrath is propitiated.
Seek restoration. We seek His presence, His will, a relationship with Him, because He perfectly fulfils us. We desire to be His people — and prays for this! This means that we obey His word and are set apart, living holy live worthy of the gospel.
Reorder our worship. This could be the most practical thing for us. Consider what it is that fills your heart, soul and mind? What occupies your thoughts? What bogs you down in worry and sorrow and fear? What lifts you up to joy and laughter? Saturate your mind with God’s word. Read the Bible. Be with God’s people. Sit under faithful preaching. Be in a local church. Turn away from lesser things that tempt us, and turn to worship our true God as we should, for He is great, and compassionate, and His steadfast love has saved, redeemed and sustained us — and He will surely come again.
This is the truth that we have! And what a blessing that is.
In these verses, Isaiah models for us how we can preach the gospel to ourselves. How do you do so today? How can we regularly call to mind the Gospel, that our hearts remain soft? What are the key points that we must know well, reflect on, live out and draw from in our daily lives?