2Co 4:9 Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed;
It’s sometimes hard to sleep when our thoughts have been taken captive by anything other than Jesus. Paul said that he was troubled on ever side but not distressed. Perplexed but not despairing. Persecuted but not forsaken, cast down but not destroyed. He had “learned,” to be content in every situation. No magic wand, but trust. He had walked through enough fires to have learned there was another in there he could see. He had been through enough waters to know the One who was holding back the sea. Taking our thoughts captive by lifting our eyes to Jesus. Anxiety is swept away and we are flooded with a peace that surpasses all understanding.
There can be no doubt that faith is forged in the fire and the tempering of our spirits happens when we are plunged into the waters. When the wind and the waves have done their work, and only that which was anchored remains, then we begin to see the saint come forth. Come forth from the fire, come forth from the storm, come forth from the grave clothes. Jesus stands and beckons us to “come forth.” When nothing should survive then we come forth and thrive by the power and the will and the good pleasure of the righteous hand of God. If you are in the fire today, do not cry out to God to quench the flames, rather pray that God Himself will sustain you in their midst. If the storm threatens to engulf you, do not pray to be rescued from it but rather to be sustained in its depths. If there is a mountain that stands in your way, do not pray for its removal but rather pray for the strength to scale its heights. In this way the mountain is removed and God is glorified and the saint lies down and sleeps in peace.
As I was walking and praying today, the Holy Spirit dropped this phrase into my spirit, “Debilitating Doldrums.” Now, that word “doldrums,” is an old sailors term for a geographical spot slightly north and slightly south of the equator in the Atlantic sea between Brazil and Africa. It is a corridor, if you like, that in days of old, if sailors found themselves there, they could be stranded for weeks because there is no wind there. The effects of the Doldrums are caused by solar radiation from the sun, as sunlight beams down directly on the area around the equator. This heating causes the air to warm and rise straight up rather than blow horizontally. The result is little or no wind, sometimes for weeks on end. Many sailors ran out of food and water and died there.
How does this relate to the saints? Oftentimes yesterdays failures causes in us a period of reflection and regret and remorse. None of that is wrong in and of itself and in fact is a vital part of who we are as God’s children. Yet, if we get stuck there, if this inner reflection goes beyond a point that is healthy, it takes the wind out of our sails. We shall find ourselves in the doldrums. The wind of the Spirit does not blow. Our spiritual resources begin to dry up. We become morose. The only solution for the sailors of old and for those of us who find ourselves there, is for the wind to blow. We must pray that the wind will blow again as we take our eyes of ourselves and look to skies.
If the wind begins to blow, no matter how small the breeze, remember this. You have to raise the sails to catch the wind. That is our part. An unhealthy inner refection with our eyes upon ourselves brought us into this place, and raising the sails once the wind blows will take us out. Remember the four Rs. 1.Reflection 2.Regret. 3.Remorse.4. Repentance. All of these make up the corridor of the doldrums. They all come because of the direct gaze of God upon our lives and our actions. And when they have found their proper place then the winds of forgiveness begin to blow. We have to accept that we are forgiven by God then we have to forgive ourselves. We must let His forgiveness carry us from that place so that we can continue the journey. Do not die in the doldrums, rather catch the wind and live.
2Sa 15:25 And the king said unto Zadok, carry back the ark of God back into the city: if I find favor in the eyes of the LORD, he will bring me again, and show me both it, and his dwelling place.
What a tragic event that is unfolding in the life of David. He is no longer a younger man and yet faces civil war with none other than his own son. It must have been with the heaviest of hearts that David leaves the city. He had been through so much in his life and who could blame him if he thought “have I not had enough?” Yet we see none of that. David would not use the Ark, unlike Eli and his wicked sons, as some kind of magic talisman in times of desperation. David had learned well the lessons of what it means to take little thought for the honor of God.
No, David would simply rely upon God to restore him. And as the balanced man of God he was, he says “but if He says this: I have no delight in you, here I am. let Him do to me as seems good.” Oh how my heart longs for the saints to know and understand and trust the Lord in this manner. The will of God above all else. The voice of God that stills the seas. The commands of God that calls forth the dead. The heart of God that already promised that He would never leave us nor forsake us. Peace be still. David may have been desperately sad, but he was not desperate. He was already mourning the loss of his son. The prophet knew in his heart. He knew he would come again to Jerusalem. He knew his son would die. He knew that this momentary departure would be just that. What faith we see from the man after Gods own heart.
Do you trust Him in this manner saints? Whether you live or whether you die will you praise the Living God for no other reason than He is worthy? If your sickness be unto death will you still praise Him still? If He kills you will you yet trust Him? The idea brothers and sisters is that He is so much bigger than we even know. He is high and lifted up and sees your circumstances in their totality and at the very same time He is in the midst of them with you. Can you see the vastness of God? For in the context of that vastness are not our problems made small? In the midst of your great turmoil can you see that you will return to His dwelling place? You will. He will show you. Lift up your eyes and see.
Jud 1:3 Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.
This phrase “earnestly contend,” is a very rich and deep. The Greek word for it is “epagōnizomai.” Look within the word, can you see the word agonize? It is not about arguments and meaningless debates over theologies of men, its about agonizing within your very heart and soul over what is true and what is not. There is a diligence in searching the Word of God and letting the Holy Spirit speak to you in the profound simplicity of how it is presented to us. God forbid that we would change the Word or add to it or take away from it. Have you agonized over where you stand and why? Is there all diligence in you in these matters? Do you not believe you will be called to account on these matters?
Paul tells the Thessalonians that they know he was bold to speak to them about the faith, the gospel, in “much conflict.” (1 Thess 1:2) Here the word conflict in the Greek is “agōn.” There is an agony of heart and soul and spirit when one is involved with the faith and the Gospel. It is not simply some debate or a match up of wills and intellect. No, rather it is of life and death. The truth. That very substance that flows through the veins of every saint. It is our life-blood. Jesus Himself. Every single martyr down through the ages, whether they contended against the errors of a Roman church or a Protestant world, agonized in this contest between light and darkness. They could not relent, for upon the Word of Truth and the way of God was their very life. It was no longer they that lived but Christ that lived within them.
Jude tells us that certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old, ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ. He likened them to the angels who did not keep their first estate, beings who wanted power and influence rather than live in the magnificent humble shadow of our glorious King. These men, Jude says were clouds without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots. Jude reminds them that they were foretold by the Apostles about such men, wolves and false prophets.
These are men who do not have the Spirit of God according to Jude. Recognize them saints. Build yourself up in the faith, with diligence praying in the Holy Spirit. Discern between who can be reached and who cannot in these matters. It requires the wisdom and the discernment of God. Stay within the safe harbor of love and mercy. Discern between the weak or the wilful, the Holy Spirit knows. He leads and He guides and He knows the hearts of men. If the Holy Spirit resides within you. If you have received the love of the truth, none of this will be optional. The agony is in direct proportion to the glory. People will advise you to stay quiet, keep your head down, stay of the radar. None of these things are possible on the battlefield that the Lord Himself has called you to. Stand strong saints and embrace the agony and the glory.
I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye sees You. Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes.(Job 42:5-6)
How many people have only ever heard of God? They grow up hearing about God. They go to their churches and hear about God. The hearing of Him has affected their lives in certain ways and directed their paths in a certain manner. They have heard words like “majesty,” and “glory.” They know about God’s power in their heads and with their understanding but in the depths of their hearts it is nothing more than information. Information does not change the heart, revelation does. It is the revelation of God that causes a man to see himself as he truly is in the light of the majesty and the glory of God. That is why the goodness and the severity of God are one and the same thing.
O my lord, by the vision my sorrows are turned upon me, and I have retained no strength.(Daniel) I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple…… Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts (Isaiah) Then said I, Ah, Lord GOD! behold, I cannot speak:………Then the LORD put forth his hand, and touched my mouth (Jeremiah) And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead.(The Apostle John)
Behold the goodness and the severity of God when we see Him, when we encounter Him, when we have a revelation of Him. When He is no longer simply words and information. We fall down as any man would in the presence of glory. It is He who raises us back up, it is He who touches us in the depths of our hearts. It is He who changes us forever and sets our path before us. It is an agony to see God because we immediately see ourselves for who we truly are without Him. Without His touch, without His glory, without the Blood of the Lamb. And now the goodness of God as we come away from that place changed forever. Closer to the heart of God. The light of this world reduced to but a flickering candle in comparison to the impenetrable light of God which penetrates every part of who we are. Now, and only now are we ready to “go.”
2Co 7:10 For godly sorrow produces repentance to salvation not to be regretted : but the sorrow of the world produces death.
Whether we are talking about salvation itself or the repenting of a genuine saint from some fall from grace we see here the same principal in operation. Godly sorrow. It precedes the repentance. Whether that be for a day, a week, a month or a season, it is the direct operation of the Holy Spirit working in the hearts and minds of people. It must have its conclusion, and if Godly, will lead to life. Now there is a counterfeit, its the sorrow of the world and it leads to death. It is not genuine sorrow, it is more akin to regret. The genuinely convicted will know and understand at his core that he has sinned against God and Him alone, and it is He that he has the issue with. Not so with the worldly sorrow which is self absorbed. Introspective narcissism does not lead to genuine repentance.
Genuine Godly sorrow has its marks as it does its work in its season. Titus reports to Paul in chapter seven that the Corinthians had an earnest desire and they mourned. It produced a diligence in them. They were persistent in their in their efforts to make themselves right with God. They had come to the throne room of God and Paul uses the phrase “what clearing of yourself,” they experienced. They cried out to God and God forgave them and this brought great joy. It brought them vindication, not from Paul, but from God Himself the only one who can vindicate us of our sin. In all things they had proved themselves to be clear in this matter. This is life changing. This is David crying our to God in psalm 51 acknowledging that he had sinned against God alone. He wanted the joy of His salvation restored. Create in me a clean heart was the cry of the warrior poet who was King David.
This is the agony of the true Godly repentance, never to be regretted which leads to life. For those who know God or who are soon to know Him understand their true state, not because of introspection and a desire to clean up their act or turn over a new leaf, but a genuine desire to be right with God the Father. And this genuine desire, this knowing of their true state is the work of the Holy Spirit in the lives of the saved and the those who seek to be saved. The genuine saint goes deeper into the Lord and it produces life in him and that more abundantly. Those who display the sorrow of the world, even although they may fool some for a season, always die. One road leads to life, the other leads to death.
2Co 6:1 We then, as workers together with him, plead with you that ye receive not the grace of God in vain.
Paul cries out to the Corinthians here in this portion of the letter. He starts the chapter by pleading with them not to receive the grace of God in vain. That is a very stern warning. You get the feeling Paul is about to really share with the Corinthians some very hard truths. He then describes the life of those who minister for the cause of Christ. Here is the list from verses 4-6. Tribulations, needs, distresses, stripes, imprisonments, tumults, labors, sleeplessness and fastings. Here is how we arm ourselves against such things according to Paul…..purity, knowledge, longsuffering, kindness, the Holy Spirit, sincere love, the word of truth, the power of God and by the armor of righteousness.
What a list brothers and sisters. What a description of what it means to follow the Lord and to suffer for His sake. And even although you will have honor in the Kingdom, you will be dis-honored here on earth. You will have a good report in the heavenlies, but in the world, an evil report. You will walk in truth but be known as deceivers. You will be unknown in this world yet well known in the Kingdom of God. It will appear as though you are dying due to your many tribulations, but you will be alive in Christ. Your situation may cause some to feel sorrow for you but you yourself will be rejoicing. It may appear that you are poor and have nothing but you enrich the saints in the Kingdom. It looks like you have nothing but you have gained eternal riches.
This is the path of the saints, few there are that find it. Paul urges us to have fellowship with like-minded people and not to be unequally yoked with unbelievers, for what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? What communion could light possibly have with darkness? The saints are the temple of the Living God and there can be no quarter given to idols. God has promised to “dwell in them and walk among them, I will be their God and they shall be my people.” In a world where the vast majority of those who attend assemblies are mere professors and identify themselves by their unrighteousness, we are told to “come out from among them and be separate and do not touch what is unclean says the Lord.” And to those who follow this command the promise of the Lord is that “I will be a Father to you and you shall be my sons and daughters.” Stand strong saints, for His grace in you is not in vain.
Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me. And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life (Joh 5:39-40)
Imagine you had a map. A treasure map. It was very detailed and if followed, would lead you to the treasure which would change your whole life. You would be rich beyond imagination. Would it serve you well to study this map? Yes. Then study it more? Yes. How about you just studied the map all of your life but you never followed the map to the treasure? Would that not be madness? The whole point of the map is the treasure. The map in and of itself, the actual piece of paper on which it was written has no intrinsic value other than it leads you to the treasure. Jesus is the treasure and every part of the Word of God points towards Him.
A tragic breakdown in Evangelical circles is how we have used doctrine as a substitute for Spiritual experience. Spiritual experience should be the outgrowth of doctrine. But we make doctrine the end.(Tozer) Tozer is saying that doctrine is the means to the end, not the end itself. Jesus is the treasure and we have this treasure in earthen vessels so that the power of God may be clearly seen in us. He breaks us down and through that very brokenness shines the light and the glory of God. It was God Himself who commanded that light would shine out of darkness. The light that He has shone upon our hearts in transformation gives the light of the knowledge and the glory of God through Jesus to a dark and broken world.
This light is the Word made flesh that dwells and sits upon the very core of who we are. It illuminates through us, through the cracks and the fissures that are created in us when we are hard presses on every side yet not crushed. It shines through us when we are perplexed but not in despair. It shines mightily in us when we are persecuted but not forsaken. It shines at it’s glorious best when we are struck down by every possible set of circumstances and we emerge from the fire not destroyed! The reality of Christ lives in us. We stand because of it, not because of some doctrine that resides only in the head. That can never bring glory to God. Yet the transformed heart that shines forth the glory of God in all its glorious reality triumphantly diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place.
Phil 4:11 I have learned, in whatever state I am, to be content.
A dear older brother shared this story that he heard decades ago from a woman and it is one of these portions of wisdom that sticks with you. She told him that for over forty years she prayed for her circumstances to change until she finally realized that the circumstances were there to change her. This would horrify many people, especially those who are of the word of faith persuasion or the name it and claim it crowd. Yet it would be a challenge in general to all who profess Jesus as their Lord.
It is natural to want to run from difficult circumstances. It is supernatural to want to be changed by them. The fleshly man wants, above all else, deliverance from what ails him because he is at the center of his own universe. When the Lord Jesus occupies that place then the only desire is to become more like Him no matter what set of circumstances that it takes. There is a line from a worship song that says “There is another in the fire, watching over me, there is another in the water, holding back the sea.”
I suppose the question then becomes, would we rather be in the fire with God or out of the fire without Him? If we had to choose, how would we choose? Can we lie down and sleep in the boat in the midst of the storm knowing that Jesus is holding back the sea? Only the man or the woman whom God Himself has changed by the power of difficult circumstances can ever hope to be content in every situation. The key to overcoming and walking in the peace that surpasses all understanding is to give yourself fully to Jesus in the midst of the fires and the floods of life. The narrow path that leads us home is marked by fire and flood and only in Christ can we walk through them.
There is the presence of God to be found in glorious worship, the kind of worship that lifts your spirit. It can lift up the head and invigorate the heart and fill you full of joy and you leave strengthened. This is good worship. Yet there is another kind of presence of God in worship, the kind of presence that there seems to be a famine of throughout the land. The first kind of presence we spoke of lifts your heart, the second kind of presence invades every part of who you are. It falls from heaven like a heavy dew, heads are lowered and hands are raised. All becomes quiet. One barely breathes as the Spirit of God slowly descends down through our heads into our hearts and down to the very soles of our feet, and the ground upon which we stand becomes Holy ground.
The first kind of presence uplifts us, the second changes us fundamentally. As living waters pour into us then it rises up like a great river that is so full that it overflows its banks. The banks themselves begin to crumble and fall into this river of pure life as it swells up and floods every part of who we are. The landscape is being changed by this flood, the very topography of our lives is being flattened by its power and everything that is not securely rooted to its foundations is simply swept away. Changed forever. And when the flood recedes we are left with a glorious afterglow. As the deer pants for the waterbrooks, I wonder, do our hearts pant after this kind of encounter.
The Lord Himself does not need professional worship teams. He does not need people to encourage us to stand up, jump up and down and raise our hands. In the Welsh revival two young women singing either acapella or simply backed by a piano typically sang “Here is love, vast as the ocean.” And there was love, in the very midst of them, vast as the ocean, flooding the hearts and minds of all who attended. Brothers and sisters, in all our modernity, what have we lost? In the program of churches and the professional class of worship leaders and pastors we have lost the simplicity of it all. And in the losing of it we now have to entertain the people. Spirit led worship is exactly that, it is Spirit led.
In work we have a routine. In life we have a routine. Prisoners in prison have a routine. Oftentimes we are slaves to the routine, it is what gets us through life. Yet, there is nothing routine about the Holy Spirit of the Living God. He is dynamic and you can never know what way the wind will blow next. Have we sold our souls for a routine? Routine in the home, routine at work, routine at church. Routine people do not change the world. Routine people do not do wage war on the battle-fields of life. The Spirit of God is dynamic and those filled with His “dynamis,” change the environment around them because the environment inside them has been filled to capacity and is overflowing its banks. Lord fill us again to overflowing with the kind of presence that invades every part of who we are.
Joh 14:21 He that hath my commandments, and keeps them, he it is that loves me:
At first glance it appears that Jesus is saying that those who keep His commandments love Him, when of course He saying those who love me keep my commandments. Look at verse 23 “If a man loves me he will keep My words.” There is all the difference in the world between the two positions. Keeping Gods commandments. Religious men of every stripe strive for this. So what separates the man of God from the religious man? To the religious man, keeping the commands of the Lord is akin to keeping score. If they can just get enough points then they can tip the scales in their favor. And in doing so, they believe they will find favor with the Lord. What constrains them is the thought of them not making the grade or indeed not making it into heaven. The constraints are a burden to them and they grudgingly trudge on. At the hearts of it all lies self.
Those who encounter God love God. They have a passion that runs through their veins. They have the law of God written upon their hearts, and out that very heart flows love. He is loved and he loves. This very love becomes his restraint and that very restraint is the mark of his freedom. He is free from the curse of the law, he is free from the bondage of it, he is indeed a bond-servant. His love for His Lord is such that any fall from grace comes with this price-he has disappointed his Lord. There can be no greater anguish for the saint and only the one who knows Jesus can know this anguish. And it is this very love that drives the saint to the throne of grace.
David famously says in Psalm 51 “Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation.” He was not trying to get saved and he was not afraid that he had lost his salvation, what he was deeply anguished and broken about was that he had sinned against the one he loved. He acknowledges his sins and desires above all else to be cleansed in his inwards parts, to be purged of what had separated him from His Lord. He is broken and contrite because of his great love for God. It is this very attribute that makes David a man after God’s own heart. Love is the catalyst for it all. God’s love for us and our love for Him. That is the bond. Nothing can be achieved in the realms of the Spirit outside of this love. It is the foundation of salvation and it is the means by which we walk the narrow path home.
By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.
(1Jn 5:2-3)
Ecc 3:11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in their heart, yet so that man cannot find out the work that God has done from the beginning to the end.
Now there is a thing, He has set eternity in the hearts of men. What could that mean? The verse begins with “He has made everything beautiful in its time.” Saints, if we could get a hold of that truth then it would transform our lives in ever way. Everything is beautiful in its time to those who bow to the God of all eternity. If I am a sculptor and take a block of stone, then the block of stone is beautiful to me because I know what is going to become of it. A canvas with just a few paint strokes on it is beautiful in its time because the artist has already seen in his heart what it shall be. Every stroke is a vital part of the whole.
Your circumstances are beautiful in its time if you shall trust the Lord your God in the midst of it. Every aspect of your life is one more thread in the tapestry that God already sees. Can you bow to that? You, dear saint, are beautiful, right now, today. The Lord already knows what He has planned for you and at this very moment you are in the midst of it. This eternity is the gulf between what is now and what was and what is to come. Like the ocean, the beginning from the end is shrouded by the horizon, but the end is already there, This is eternity in your heart. It creates the need for you to trust in the Lord your God and equips you for faith. Trust in the Lord your God this day and see the beauty in it.
Dan 9:17 Now therefore, O our God, hear the prayer of thy servant, and his supplications, and cause thy face to shine upon thy sanctuary that is desolate, for the Lord’s sake.
Oh Lord, cause your face to shine upon the sanctuary that is desolate. Surely we, just as much as Daniel can cry out to God this prayer. The sanctuary lies in darkness and in ruins as Daniel prays this prayer. It is forsaken and abandoned and only the light from the face of God Almighty can pierce and shatter the darkness that it lies under. We too, in our day, find ourselves far from that place that God would have us to be. A place of unity among the Body of Christ. A place of power and love. Babylon has taken us today just as surely as it took the Israelite’s. Yet we labor under the great disadvantage of not knowing we have been taken.
Jesus says in John 17:24 “Father I desire that they also whom you gave me may be with me where I am, that they may behold My glory.” In this place of glory there dwells immeasurable light. It is the light from the face of God Himself. This light, this glory fills the temple. We as a people are a sanctuary that lies in ruins. We dwell at ease in Babylon. We are lulled by its Satanic lullaby. Oh Lord, for thine own sake cause your Face to shine upon us that we mat reflect thy glory into a dark and dying world. How else will the people of darkness even know that there is such a light? Let them lift their eyes towards the night sky and see that it declares your glory, let them cast their eyes upon a people of light whose countenance reflects your glory.
Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. (Mat 16:24)
An external religion, with its rules and forms, has taken the place of an inward experience with Christ. The saints of old- Abraham, Isaac, Enoch and Job- knew and experienced God inwardly in a personal and vital way. For Christ to truly reign within you, everything must be submitted to Him without reservation. There are many who oppose such a total surrender to this reign. ( Jeanne Guyon)
Madam Guyon knew well that only the cross could bring us to this place of total surrender. Yet even here, it is we who are called to take up our cross, and daily. God creates the perfect cross for each of us. The cross you bore last year is probably not the cross you bear this year, or perhaps even the cross you bore yesterday. God knows it all. It is His craftsmanship. By means of the cross He shapes you. Like a glacier that cuts through everything it its path and leaves behind mountains and valleys, so too the crosses that we bear. It shapes us in ways that only a cross could. And it is we who must pick them up, God will not do this for us.
The alternative is external religion. With external religion there is no inward experience of Christ, no picking up the cross daily, no shaping of the inward man, just the outward shell, the thing that shall return to dust. Men and women will suffer a great deal in order to stay enthroned on their own hearts. In order to take up the cross we must abdicate this throne and see Christ take His rightful place. Do not suffer as the world suffers brothers and sisters. Suffer for Christ’s sake as His Godly reign is established in your heart through the only means available, the daily cross.
1Co 3:10 According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon.
In verse nine Paul tells the Corinthians that they are God’s field, they are God’s building. And so what lies at the foundation of who we are? Jesus Christ Himself. He owns the land and He owns the structures and He is the foundation. As a former builder who has built many structures and have studied many structures from history I have observed the following. Foundations were typically constructed out of what what was readily available nearby. Sometimes older structures had no foundations at all. Other times trenches were filled with small stones, sometimes large rocks. Of course most foundations today are constructed from poured concrete. Yet eternal foundations are laid in grace and formed in Christ.
We are constructed by grace, the unmerited favor of God. This is the foundation of it all. Upon everything that has any eternal value you will find this foundation, the unmerited favor of God poured out on the world that He created. He sent His only begotten Son into a chaotic world that had no coherent stability. A world wracked and moved by sin and death. And the Lord Jesus subdued this inherent instability and created order by overcoming sin and hell and death. Now His creation could rise from the ashes of rebellion and chaos. The grace of God is the instruction, the grace of God is the foundation, the grace of God is the structure. For by grace you are saved through faith and this is the gift of God. Not by our own works, lest we should boast but we are His workmanship. (Eph 2:8-10)
You dear saint, are His workmanship. No man can build you, and no man can boast in you. God always finishes what He starts. He is not like fickle man. He will finish what He has begun in you, and it is a good work. And it is for His own will and good pleasure. Remember that this day. Remember the foundation upon which you stand. Remember who the Master-builder is that is constructed you. Be confident in Him. When you see this, you will know and trust in Him that He will finish what He started in you. His is a labor of love. He sees in you what you could never see. Close your eyes for a few moments. Now open the eyes of your heart and understand the foundation upon which you stand. Let this give you the confidence to stand. In the heat of the battle, in the cool of the day your Lord came into your life and there He shall stay. For He is unmovable and those who stand upon Him shall not be moved.
1Co 2:2 For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified.
A singular focus saints. Do you have a singular focus? Is that focus the Lord Jesus Christ and Calvary? If we ever get away from this singular focus, and I would argue that almost all of Christendom has, then we are in a world of trouble. Jesus and the cross and the resurrection is the beginning, the middle and the end of the story. The modern day minister or pastor does not present himself in weakness and fear and much trembling. Why not? Well, we would despise him if he did. Rather he must be confident and self assured. He must have the ability to use persuasive words. This is the power of men but it is not the power of God.
There is a hidden wisdom of God that has been directly created to speak to the hidden aspects of man. It cannot be adequately described, it can only be experienced. There are no words to describe what it means for a man to communicate, by the power of the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. Only the Spirit of God knows the things of God. And therefore only by the Spirit of God can we know anything of God. The wisdom of God has been expertly wrapped up in what the world considers to be foolish. It is therefore true that those of the world cannot discover such wisdom outside of the Spirit of God Himself who highlights, promotes and convicts all men everywhere of Jesus Christ and Him crucified.
Are you strong in the eyes of the world or in the eyes of your congregation or those you gather with? Do you speak with persuasive words? Or are you determined in your spirit to not know anything save Jesus and Him crucified? This is foolishness to the world saints. This is foolishness to your average congregation. Do they not rather wish to hear the wisdom of man? Tell us how to live. Tell us what God says about this, tell us what God says about that. Where are the men with the singular obsession with Jesus Christ our Lord and Him crucified? Therein lies all the solutions to every problem you will ever have. The cross. The further the cross recedes into the background, the further we get from victorious living and the more we rely on the wisdom of man which only takes us still further away. God in heaven help us to determine to know nothing other than Christ and Him crucified.
Luk 1:6 And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless.
What does it mean to be blameless before the Lord? How can an imperfect heart be perfect before the Lord, blameless in all of its ways? Are we not called as saints to live blameless lives, exemplary lives? Indeed we are. No one should be able to bring a reproach against us. This is the high calling of God on our lives. We have been so taken up with the false notion that we are just “sinners saved by grace,” that many measure the standard of their lives by the lowest possible denominator rather than Christ Himself. This has been disastrous.
Holiness. Righteousness. Is this the desire of your heart? Do you want the righteousness of Christ to shine through your lives for all the world to see? Do you want to live a holy life as unto the Lord? The Lord knows the heart, He sees the desire of it. The Word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart (Hew 4:12) God knows the heart. The imperfect heart can be blameless before the Lord for He knows our motivations.
The beat of the longing heart echos throughout the ages. The righteousness of Christ rules supreme and we find our righteousness in Him alone, but the blameless heart is a beautiful thing unto the Lord. He is never fooled. He knows the intent and the motivations of His children. And all of this should cause us to come up higher as we are drawn to the beauty of His holiness. Let others be satisfied with pronouncing themselves as mere sinners, but let the saint know that the righteousness of Christ flowing through them shall reflect upon the darkness of this world. We must have a longing heart saint, a heart that above all else desires to seek Him first and His righteousness. Let us be found blameless.
Heb 10:16 This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them;
There are two broad categories of people within the realms of Christendom. One group is very large and the other fairly small. The smaller group are the folks that the above scripture alludes to. The other group are religious, with all its many facets. The good, the bad and the ugly but of course in the end its all darkness to those who cannot discern the voice of God. Those who cannot be moved by His Spirit, who do not have the laws of God written upon their hearts and their minds will always stumble and become the antagonist towards those who are so moved.
Let me give you a hypothetical. Abraham has his son of promise. Oh how long he waited. He and Sarah finally had what they knew that God had promised. Of course Abraham had told others of this child and the promises associated with him and the nation that would be born in him. And one day, seemingly out of nowhere, God tells Abraham to take his son and kill him. Now imagine what his closest friends would make of that. Imagine what his own wife would make of that. Can you hear their arguments? “Abraham you’re mad. God would never contradict Himself. You have misheard. Under no circumstances must you do this.”
And here we have the difference between those who know the voice of God and those who merely know truth. It is all true what they would say. Isaac was certainly the child of promise. Everything that God had promised Abraham would come to pass. Yet Abraham knew the voice of God. And in the end, those who shall be led by His Spirit will know the voice of God, for His very will is written upon our hearts. We must obey God even when we do not fully understand. There are plenty of men who only know the truth as it is written, but it has not be written upon their hearts.
The Holy Spirit is not leading them and guiding them and inspiring them to know and understand the words written. Outside of the Holy Spirit there is but a two dimensional understanding of the Scriptures. The revelation of the word of God can only be discerned by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Everything else is religion. Common wisdom would say that Isaac should not be taken up the hill. If Abraham had not taken his son up the hill then he would not be the father of faith. Yet, as always, the just shall live by faith. And the deaf? They shall stumble in the darkness.
Zec 4:6 Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit says the Lord of hosts.
This is such a well known Scripture, probably quoted millions of times a year around the world. How much consideration or perhaps even knowledge of the context of this Scripture is brought to bear when this is quoted? The context of course is the vision of the lamp-stand and the two olive trees. The lamp is vitally connected to the two olive trees. While the connection remains, the lamp can never burn out. Are we not vitally connected to the Father and the Son through the Holy Spirit? No lamp has any real value without the light that it produces. Our power and our might cannot light the lamp, only the oil can.
What happens to the lamp when it is disconnected from the source of oil? The light goes out. What happens to you saint when you are disconnected from the Holy Spirit? I hear the howls of protest at the mere thought that somehow we can disconnect ourselves from the Holy Spirit, or that we can quench the Holy Spirit in our lives. King David famously cries out in psalm 51 “Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me.” We can quench the Holy Spirit in our lives, we can disconnect ourselves so to speak when we sin and when we hold onto that sin.
Let me give you this example. As a married couple has there been times when you and your spouse have not spoken? You are still married, still living in the same house, probably still sleeping in the same bed, but not talking. A “distance,” has been created. Even in bed, staying to your own side of the bed. A emotional distance, a physical distance a break in the relationship. Yet, still married, still cohabiting. So, this “distance,” is the problem. The Scriptures recognize “distance.” We are told to “draw near,” to God and He will draw near to us, is that not right? In that very same scripture (James 4:8) James tells us to “cleanse,” our hands and purify your hearts. Humble yourself, he says, in the sight of the Lord and He shall raise you up.
Humility is the key to vital connection. You cannot be vitally connected to God and walk in pride. A man and a wife cannot come back together again until someone humbles themselves and asks for forgiveness. Only then does the oil begin to flow. Only then does the darkness flee as the Light begins to break forth. Only then does the communication begin afresh and closeness is reestablished and intimacy is restored. Only by the Spirit of God can there be light. Only by the Spirit of God can there be communication, and most importantly, only by the Spirit of God can there be intimacy. When the oil is flowing, every obstacle is laid low. Not even a mountain can stop you, for it shall crumble before you with shouts of grace, grace, marvelous grace!!!!
Haggai 2:3a Who is left among you who saw this temple in its former glory?
Here we see in Haggai a reference to the “second,” temple, the one that would be rebuilt. The first temple had been destroyed and Israel was taken captive to Babylon. Now, several decades later, a “remnant,” had returned. When given the opportunity, about a third left the comfort and the relative luxury of Babylon to return to Jerusalem. They of course found the temple broken down and it was in their hearts to rebuild it. Most of them knew nothing of the glory of the temple in its original splendor. They had heard tales of course, but the reality of what they found and the hostile nature of the territory meant that for almost twenty years, little to no progress was made in the rebuilding of the temple. The people were too busy living their own lives and attending to their own house-holds to attend to the temple.
In our day, brothers and sisters, we too have a remnant. We too live in a hostile environment. We are often too busy to be invested in the Body of Christ, the true and living temple. Who among us can remember a day when you walked into a gathering and the presence of the Lord was so evident that you dare not speak, not even whisper? There was an “awareness,” of His glory. There was no need for dimmed lights and smoke machines. His presence compelled you to your knees. Nobody had to tell you to raise your hands, they simply took their rightful place, aloft and surrendered to the glory. There was a “holy heaviness,” where one could barely lift their heads. Tentatively a song would rise from a lowly saint and then the whole congregation would join in as waves of glory would wash over them until a word would come forward, a testimony, a scripture and the waves would continue to come.
The Lord says to the people of Haggai “so my Spirit remains among you, do not fear…..once more I will shake heaven and earth, the sea and the dry land, and I will shake all the nations………and I will fill this temple with glory….the silver is Mine and the gold is Mine…..the glory of this latter temple shall be greater than the former….. and in this place I shall give peace.” (Haggai 6-9) God is raising up a temple here in these last days, a temple built without human hands and He shall fill this temple with such glory that it shall cover the earth as the waters cover the sea. Out of this temple shall flow the knowledge of the glory of God. His peace shall rest upon His people even as they are surrounded by hostility. The greater glory of the Lord as manifested to men still remains to be seen. We, brothers and sisters, are living stones in that very temple. Rejoice and be glad today for the Bridegroom cometh for the Bride and the temple is being made ready.
A Call To The Remnant 