Job 2:3……….. and still he holds fast his integrity.
We see here the progression of God’s truth about Job and the exposing of the lie of Satan. Job has just lost every single possession he owned in the world. All of his children had just been wiped out. And when he hears of this he famously replies ” naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return : the LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.” I want to suggest that this is the high water mark of service to the God that we love above and beyond all other things. God himself says, that even after all these things “still he holds fast his integrity.” God is impressed with His servant and we see this only makes the Devil angrier. The love of God for His servants and their love for Him, even in the face of terrible loss and tragedy only makes the enemy of our soul even angrier.
Have you suffered loss brothers and sisters? Can you say with all of your heart “blessed be the name of the Lord.” This is what Job says in the midst of worshiping His Lord. To be supernaturally enabled to walk this kind of walk we must have eternal vision. We must have glimpsed something of His majesty and His glory. This is no mere stoic behavior in the midst of profound loss, this is love and glory and majesty and vision. It is not natural. If it were natural and all we had in this world were the things of this world then we would join with Job’s wife and curse God for our losses. No brothers and sisters, this is supernatural. For those who have eyes to see what the Spirit sees, we see a magnificent eternal horizon set ablaze by the impenetrable light of Christ. Remember this. The very thing that God commends, that Job still holds fast to his integrity, is the very thing his wife challenges. She says to him “do you still hold fast to your integrity? Curse God and die.”
Remember brothers and sisters, oftentimes those who are closest to you, whether it be your friends or a loved one, may be the ones who challenge you the most. For in the end, it is but you and God. This wilderness that to one degree or another every saint finds himself in, is the testing ground. It is about identity. How will you come out of the wilderness? Jesus’ identity was tested in the wilderness by the devil himself. Your identity will be tested to by the same enemy. In the end, we are identified by who we serve and who we love above all other things. This wilderness will identify if you love God above all other things. Will you hold fast to your integrity? In the deepest depths of the darkness will you “fall down and worship God?” The Lord gives and the Lord takes away, blessed be the name of the Lord. Even if He slay me, yet shall I trust Him. This is the finest gold forged in the hottest furnace. This gold will adorn the temple of God not built by human hands.
Freedom is totally unconfined
And surely break the cords that bind
It set me adrift in the midst of an endless sea
It swallowed and consumed me, now I am surely free
Freedom is the reason that He came from up above
Freedom is His work and the consequences of
The Fathers love and His desire to set the captives free
And every saint in all the earth shall surely all agree
That freedom is the narrow path as wide as the Fathers heart
And freedom is the cords of love that never comes apart
It is the mighty rushing wind, an unstoppable incoming tide
It is the depths of the Fathers heart, the place where I shall hide
The Kingdom of God, my heart cries out, and calls it freedom land
It is the solid Rock in a sinking world, where I forever stand
It is the air I breath, each beat of my heart, which He gave unto me
It is nail pierced hands and wounded side that set my spirit free
Calvary alone attests to the work that Christ Himself has done
And to freedoms glorious victory that He alone has won
Who could have ever known that to nail Christ to a tree
Would destroy the power of bondage and set the captive free
When all the leaves have faded
And fallen to the ground
I pray the trees still standing
Right there on Holy ground.
When everything is stripped away
And we stand before the throne
And we have no earthly covering
but the Blood of Christ alone
We'll see what only God can see
And where it had begun
On the wretched bloody battle-field
Of Calvary there, was won.
The Blood He shed for you and me
It covers everything
And though we stand there naked
There stands our Christ the King
And there we'll know as we are known
White garments dressed before the throne
There'll never be another fall
For the Blood of Christ it covers all.
When I tell people that I am going home to Scotland, many people say, innocently enough, things like "oh that must be really nice, I wish I was coming with you, you are so lucky." I usually just nod and smile. How can they know that Scotland to me, in great part, is the land of my lost childhood. The land where I buried my son, where I almost lost another. Some of the darkest years of my life were swallowed up by alcohol and drugs, lost in oblivion, in the land of my birth. And yet I do love it. I love the people. I love the mountains and the valleys and the river that ran through my valley, the River Clyde. It is emblazoned upon my mind. Here below is a poem I wrote which might give you a better understanding of what it means for me to "go home." I wrote it to the fallen pieces of my heart that I left behind so long ago. I am sure many Americans could relate to this, it would just be the their own small town, the place of their birth.
The battleground.
I'm now going back to the battleground
To see if the pieces of my heart can be found
I left them where they fell so many years ago
In the midst of a perpetual winter, underneath the falling snow
I want to gather them up and tell them where I've been
Of the sunshine that I've walked in and the glory I have seen
A land so far from this place, that dwells on higher ground
Far removed from the frozen land and from the battleground
And so to all the pieces that I had to leave behind
I have a brand new heart and a fully restored mind
Amidst the flame and fire of the battles long ago
Ive come to show you something of what it means to grow.
The heart that's cut to pieces and memories departed
He came to raise you up again and heal the brokenhearted
He'll take from all the ashes, and there beauty shall be found
Where once was broken pieces amidst the battleground.
1Co 15:55 O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?
Death is swallowed up in victory. There are many kinds of death just as there are many kinds of victories. There is of course physical death and for those saints who have the victory, then every aspect of death’s power are swallowed up by the life of Christ. For we know that because He lives then so shall we. The darkness of this world shall be swallowed whole by the light of Christ that is brighter than a thousand suns.
There is also death to self and every aspect of self. This is harder than dying a physical death. For it comes not once but a thousand times a thousand times. We die daily is not exaggeration. Death to desires, death to wants, death to ambitions, death to the flesh that never stops trying to press forth its “rights.” Death to rights, death to what belongs to us. Death to what should have been and to what could have been. Many of us may not fear physical death and in fact we may desire it, but there is no one who stands unmoved to the death of self. Only by living in Christ can we die to our-self. Only by knowing Jesus can we know victory.
And because we “know” Him we have already been touched by the glory of His light. Can you feel it’s glow even now deep within your heart? It burns at the center of who we are. There is life in this light of God. There is power and there is victory and because there is we can say with full authority to death- where is your sting? Oh grave where is your victory? You have been defeated and you have been swallowed whole. The victory belongs to Jesus. His very life is our victory and His eternal throne means that our victory is eternal.
Rivers of grace and oceans of love
Is always sufficient is always enough
The heavens shall open and rain down on me
I who was captive now gloriously free
It raises me up to where I belong
That which was weak, is now very strong
This river of grace, this ocean of love
Takes me to places I've never dreamed of
I found the Father without any chart
And Jesus His Son to the depths of His heart
Now Only in thee can I ever abide
In the cleft if the Rock, I forever shall hide
Rivers of grace and oceans of love
My glorious Jesus is more than enough
The heavens wide open rains down upon me
No longer a captive just gloriously set free.
Mat 21:44 And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder.
The Word of God is immovable, it sits as the cornerstone of all that exists. The arc of our lives must bend towards the Word of God.Time and space itself bends towards the Word. The revealed truth of God establishes the foundations of all existence. In the beginning was the word and God created the heaven and the earth. The spoken word of God calls forth light and the light creates a separation between itself and the darkness. The light of God is still separate from the darkness. And in the end the Word remains and every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that the Word, the Lord Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.
The word of God speaks to the sons and the daughters of light and it calls them to bend. If the arc of your life does not bend towards the word of God then the word of God does not hold sway over your lives. It may intrigue you. It may fascinate you. It may challenge you. You may argue about it and it may be philosophy to you, but if it has not bent you, if your life has not been broken by it and renewed and put back together by it then it does not sit on the throne of your heart. The truly broken shall bend, yet in the end all those who resist and reject the chief cornerstone, that stone shall fall upon them and they shall be ground to powder and be scattered like dust.
Have you been broken? The poor in Spirit are the ones who cry out from the depths of who they are to the One who is high and lifted up. The broken are the ones who cannot even lift their heads in the presence of God. Yet He gently places His hand under their chins and raises up their heads to look at Him. He pierces the souls of the broken and the contrite hearts as they look unto Him, the Author and the Finisher of their faith.
I am broken, I am vanquished, I surrender. Is this your cry? To be broken is to see your flesh for what it is, in the horror of that you will be broken. To be vanquished is to be subdued by a superior force. And in your brokenness you are subdued and you surrender into the hand of God. Do not resist the work of the Holy Spirit in your life and in your circumstances, they are the hammer and the chisel of God. He will shape you.
I thank you for the righteousness you see
For it is the righteousness You imputed to me
My chains fell of and I was healed
When this truth to me was finally revealed
I bring nothing to His righteousness
And the Spirit of this truth has guided us
That even on my very worse day
Tis your truth alone that lights my way
Not by might nor power I stand
But by the righteousness found in thy Hand
That flows from feet and wounded side
In the shadow of thy wing is where I'll hide
This is my life tis from above
It hovers over me like a heavenly dove
This truth alone has set me free
Higher than the heavens and deeper than the sea.
How to rule the emotions? It is imperative in the life of the saint, to rule the emotions. They have to be taken captive, much like the thoughts. Emotions and thoughts are not in and of themselves bad of course, they are a vital part of our humanity, they are what makes us human. Yet, if we allow ourselves to be ruled by our emotions and we do not take into captivity our thoughts, we shall be like waves tossed upon the sea by strong winds. This can develop into hurricane force winds which then become highly destructive to everything it breaks upon.
Emotions serve us well. They are most often delightful and cause us to laugh and to cry, to be angry and to be sad. These are all safety valves for us in our human experience. Yet, when they master us, when we serve them rather than they serving us, we fall into a world of trouble. The vast majority of people I have ever met have been ruled by their emotions, for the most part. So, what brings the emotions into line? The will. And for the saints it is the will empowered by the Spirit of God. And where does the will take its cue from? The Word of God and the still small voice of God.
When the will is yielded to the obedience of God, the emotions are kept in check. We walk in a broad place in this situation. When the will gives way to the emotions then we have opened ourselves up to great danger. In the middle of a storm, the ship has her hatches battened down. This stops the mighty waves that crash over her from pouring into her holds, flooding the interior, and potentially sinking the ship. This action is carried out by the will. When the emotions are in charge then the hatches have been thrown open. Every wave that assaults us can now possibly sink us.
The Spirit empowered and yielded will is the sentinel that stands guard over the doorway of our hearts and minds. It follows the directions of God and is anxious for nothing. It yields itself to Jesus and His word and It stops us from getting on the rollercoasters of every situation we face. It keeps us walking in a sure and broad place. Get on that rollercoaster and there will be huge ups and downs and turns and twists. There will be fear and screaming and all manner of noise as we are tossed about by the situations we face.
To be ruled by the emotions is to walk according to the flesh. To exercise our wills in the way that we have been directed by God is to walk according to the Spirit. No disobedient servant can walk according to the Spirit. How then do you walk saint? Are you storm tossed by the circumstances of life? Does your life consist of highs and lows and twists and turns that leave you exhausted in mind and body? Do you find yourself forever on the rollercoaster of life and circumstances? The key to life in the Spirit is to yield to God and to be obedient to His word. You will undoubtedly suffer loss in your pursuit of following hard after the Lord. Yet, what is loss in this world is gain in the next. Surrender today saints and walk in the peace that surpasses all understanding.
2Co 10:5 Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;
I will open rivers in the desert heights
I will illuminate the darkness on the darkest nights
I will be a cloud to you in the heat of the day
Follow me my child I will show you the way
I will make the wilderness like a pool of water
I will strengthen you though ye be like lambs to the slaughter
When they hang you high I will raise you higher
You will praise My name in the midst of the fire
When they put you in the dungeon and throw away the key
You will sing songs of glory for I have set you free
There are no chains that can ever hold you down
For I have robed you in glory and placed upon your head a crown
Streams of heavenly glory flow down to you oh man
I saw you born again, I saw when it all began
No child of mine shall beg nor ever sell his own birthright
Rather stand he in the battle, he will stand and fight
We do not fight with flesh and blood, rather principalities and powers
We pull down every stronghold and demolish demonic towers
The Lord has called us to righteousness and He will hold our hand
And by the power of His glory, we shall forever stand.
The Holy Spirit spoke to me the other day in answer to an inquiry as to what was going on with me. “You have been holding on for so long that you do not know how to let go.” Let go of what you might ask? Everything.
It is within my own grasp that all fear exists, and the tighter the hold the greater the fear. And so this new place that I have been walking in with the Lord is the place that appears when you let go.
And the letting go was such a foreign concept to me that the Holy Spirit had to tell me what it was. And I thought to myself “surely it cannot be that simple?” And the answer is that it is, it is profoundly simple. And the cost? Everything that you have. Let it go. Hand it over. He who the Son sets free is free indeed.
Rain down you heavens from above
Let the skies pour forth in righteousness
Be drenched by His glorious love
And let His light expel all darkness
I am the Lord your God and there is no other
Look to me alone as your narrow way
Do not be distracted by any other lover
And I will lead and guide you every single day
I have formed the light and created the darkness
I make peace and hold the reins of calamity
Yet in my Hands you are safe from all the madness
And despite all you see there is only my reality
Darkness and light are both the same to Me
And I have created the path that lies before you
Whether mountains or valleys or the wildest desolate seas
I will forge your steps and I will take you through
You shall walk through fires and you shall not be burned
You shall wade through floods and not be overwhelmed
You shall keep your eyes on me and never be turned
When you are covered by My Blood you are never condemned.
I will open rivers in the desert heights
I will illuminate the darkness on the darkest nights
I will be a cloud to you in the heat of the day
Follow me my child I will show you the way
I will make the wilderness like a pool of water
I will strengthen you though ye be like lambs to the slaughter
When they hang you high I will raise you higher
You will praise My name in the midst of the fire
When they put you in the dungeon and throw away the key
You will sing songs of glory for I have set you free
There are no chains that can ever hold you down
For I have robed you in glory and upon your head a crown
Streams of heavenly glory flow down to you oh man
I saw you born again, I saw when it all began
No child of mine shall beg nor ever sell his own birthright
Rather stand he in the battle, he will stand and fight
We do not fight with flesh and blood, rather principalities and powers
We pull down every stronghold and demolish demonic towers
The Lord has called us to righteousness and He will hold our hand
And by the power of His glory, we shall forever stand.
A NEW DAY IS BORN.
As the morning from the earliest dawn
Is spread upon the mountains
So the Blood of our Almighty Lord
Flows from eternal fountains
As the river from its secret source
Flows down from the highest valleys
So our Lord and all His marching saints
To the battle ever rallies
Down from Heaven's eternal skies
Flows Gods almighty blessings
That washes men from all their sins
And all of their transgressions
In every battle in every age
Blood has been forever shed
Yet the greatest day there ever was
The day my Saviour died and bled
And now the fountains of our Lord
Gush forth a mighty flood
Refreshing men in every age
By His eternal Blood
Stand fast ye soldiers of the cross
Stand fast and hold the ground
Though you may suffer grievous loss
And the enemy is all around
Rise up like mornings from the dawn
That spreads across the mountains
And see His Blood you look upon
Flow from eternal fountains
And in this glorious tidal wave
That ushers sin into its grave
You'll stand triumphantly and say
This is for me a brand new day..
The title of the last poem that that William Cowper wrote, in 1773, was “Light shining out of Darkness.” It became known by the first line “God moves in a mysterious way.” John Newton would publish it the following year. It might help to understand the original title when we consider that William wrote this poem after attempting suicide. And so the darkness that he is writing about was gross darkness indeed and how sweet the light of Christ that rescues us even if we make our beds in hell, even the darkness, shall be light unto Him. He also wrote “There is a fountain filled with Blood,” and “O for a closer walk with God.”
These words written, have comforted countless millions over the last 250 years. William, in his serious battles with depression over his whole lifetime could never have imagined the impact his life would have, how it would continue to resonate down through the centuries. This is the work of the Holy Spirit in a man who walked in the darkness of depression for much of his life. Light shining out of darkness. God indeed moves in mysterious ways, who can explain our God? I tell you this though, you rarely if ever read words like this anymore. Savor the words below, they are rich in depth and meaning as opposed to so much of the shallowness that today passes for writing.
God moves in a mysterious way
His wonders to perform;
He plants his footsteps in the sea,
And rides upon the storm.
Deep in unfathomable mines
Of never failing skill,
He treasures up his bright designs
And works his sovereign will.
Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take,
The clouds ye so much dread
Are big with mercy, and shall break
In blessings on your head.
Judge not the lord by feeble sense,
But trust him for his grace;
behind a frowning providence
He hides a smiling face.
His purpose will ripen fast,
Unfolding every hour;
the bud may have a bitter taste,
But sweet will be the flower.
Blind unbelief is sure to err,
And scan his work in vain:
God is his own interpreter,
And he will make it plain.
In Romans 1:28 we see that men are given over to a reprobate mind. There comes a time when men are given over to this mindset. The word reprobate means to be cast away, rejected, something that no longer has a value. It is a truly frightening word. I would like to argue that the world in general has been given over to a reprobate mindset. It is the final dispensation. Not to be confused with Dispensationalism. I am no dispenastionalist. When I use the word dispensation I use it in its plain simple meaning. A set order that is replaced by a paradigm shift.
I would like to put it to you that we are in the midst of a paradigm shift that is written about in Romans 1:28. It started with that which is known as the church, the great religious institutions of the world called after the name of Jesus Christ, Christians in Christendom. It has fallen, it fell first. Judgement began there. And then the world. Now the argument would be that the world was already fallen. I agree with that. It was fallen right from the beginning. It was why Jesus came. No, the paradigm shift is that men, with full knowledge, completely and utterly reject God and all that is holy. They are, in a sense, without excuse.
Right has become wrong. That which lurked in the alleyways and the shadows, now parades itself down Main St. The saints have been forcibly removed into the alleyways. Night has become day. Darkness now presents itself as light and has been embraced. The children are being slaughtered by the millions in the womb and those who are not slaughtered are corrupted by the institutions of men with the aid of willing parents. Justice has been totally corrupted and taken over by the reprobates and is now a wing of the armed all out rebellion against Truth.
There have been many “evil days,” in the history of our world. Yet there is a day written about in the Scriptures. The weapons of our warfare are such that we can stand in “that evil day.” There is a culmination of “evil days,’ and we are living in them. It is when hell spews forth its contents and drowns all the world in its vomit. It is the time of gross darkness. The kind of darkness that covered the earth when Jesus hung on the cross. It is the greatest of all darknesses and it comes before the greatest of all lights. Dawn comes in the morning but we as saints must stand in the darkest night.
We who are alive and remain today have been called for such a time as this. God equips those that He calls and He makes no mistakes. When He calls Gideon a mighty man of valor it is because that is exactly what God saw in him, even although Gideon complained that he was the weakest man from the weakest clan. It did not matter what Gideon thought, it only mattered what God stated and that God would bring to pass that which He said would come to pass. You, saint, are God’s mighty men and women of valor and you have been called to stand in such a time as this. You are a child of the living God and you have His molten Truth running through your veins. This Truth that has so captivated you will not be wrestled from you.
In this Truth is the way and the life. Your very life, your eternal life. You are so taken by it that you love not your life unto death. You stand by the Blood of the Lamb and the Word of your testimony. Your testimony, your witness, is your changed life by the power of God and your all consuming love for the Truth. They may beat us down but they shall not extinguish the light. All day long they can slaughter us like lambs but our Blood cries out still and God hears.
A chosen people, a Holy generation, a royal priesthood called for such a day as this. In this final dispensation we shall see the fulfillment of the great call from Jesus in John 17 that we would be one as He and His Father are one and that we shall be where the glory is. We shall see the fulfillment of Matthew 24 that he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.(Mat 24:13-14)
The time has come to endure until the end and the world will see the Gospel of the Kingdom preached as a witness. The martyrs are called as witnesses against the reprobates. And then the end shall come.
Rev 4:1 After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven:
A door opened in heaven!! What is this, what can it mean? If such a door existed and we had access to it should we not find it and walk through it? Just a few sentences earlier we hear about the door;Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.(Rev 3:20)
There is, it seems, a door that we as children of God can open, and when that door is opened we can sit down with the Lord at His banqueting table, glory to God. Again a few sentences before that we hear Jesus say I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name.(Rev 3:8)
This open door to glory, this door to heaven, this access to the throne room belongs to the child of God. The ability to come before the Father and bow down and cry out Abba uniquely belongs to the enduring overcoming child of the living God. No man can shut this door, no power on earth can shut this door, Satan himself cannot shut this door. It has been given by the hand of God to His child and no one can rob him of it.
This is the glories of walking with the Lord with an open heart, to walk in His presence and according to His ways. This is the promise of Jesus to His faithful followers, that no matter what happens, no matter how dark the hour , no matter how fierce the opposition, the saints can walk in the glories of God and have access to His throne and to His presence and that He would keep them from the hour of temptation.
Now that word keep is better translated guard. To the loving Church who does not deny the name of Jesus and keeps His word, He guards them from that hour of temptation that is coming upon the world. Temptation loses its power for those who draw near to Jesus. To draw near to Jesus we must have an open door in our hearts, our hearts must be open to His glories and then we shall have the power to stand fast and let no man steal our crown.
My hope is in the Christ that dwells within my heart.
It also lies within my Lord who quenches every dart
The Christ who came and died for me and raised me from the dead
And who for you and me , gladly died and bled
My hope is in the Lord my God who whispers in my ear
The Christ who by His very walk conquered every fear
The Christ who showed me how to live and also how to die
The Christ who taught me how to run and also how to fly
He is my sunrise in the morning at the breaking of the dawn
And by His hand transformed me and forever He holds on
He is my sunset in the evening at the end of every day
He came to show me how to walk, to walk a different way
He is the beginning and the end and everything in between
He is the power that transformed me, by His Blood I was made clean
Rising from the ashes of sin and death and hell
He raised me up to where He was and there forever I shall dwell.
One day the Lord will rend the heavens and His glory will flow down the mountains and fill every valley with His majesty. The seas will flee away at His presence. The mountains will humbly bow and say ” Glory , glory to the risen King.” The sun will turn its face away in shame for it has been outdone by the brilliance of His illumination. A mere flickering candle in comparison to His unadulterated light. The moon and the stars will cry out ” Holy, Holy is He who was and is and forever shall be.”
And every voice from every tongue will say “Jesus,” and acknowledge the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. And the beasts of the earth will fall down and cover their faces and then the lion will rise up and approach the lamb and they will lay down together. And every knee shall bow in every tribe and in every nation and even the hordes of hell will fall silent as He approaches. The earth itself will grow silent and shall be still and then a glorious noise will begin to arise and will fill the earth, it will fill the sea it will fill the night skies and it will fill the whole universe.
And all that will be heard will be the choirs of angels, that heavenly choir and the glory of God will not only cover the earth but will fill up everything that there is or has ever been. Gods saints will rise on this glorious symphony, they will arise in the updrafts of His glory and majesty and it will carry them into the heart of God. And those who rejected this magnificent glory will fall and their cries will be heard as they fall into the depths of darkness forever.
A Call To The Remnant 