1Co 14:37 If any man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord.
I will probably have a couple of devotionals on this chapter. I believe it to be one of the most important “chapters,” in the NT. Nowhere else do we have such a description of an early gathering service. Paul clearly states that what he is saying in regard to these matters is ” commandments of the Lord.” He further states that if you believe that you are a ” prophet or spiritual,”or leaders among the brethren then you must acknowledge the things of which he has just written about. And what has he just written about? He has just relayed to us “commandments of the Lord,” as to how a service should be conducted. To ignore Paul in this is to actually ignore God. He ends the chapter just as he begins it by saying “therefore brethren , desire earnestly to prophecy and do not forbid to speak with tongues. Let all things be done decently and in order.”
Before I begin to talk about the manifestation of the Spirit among us in the service, in all its many demonstrations, we must speak to the purpose of it all. The purpose of the manifestation of the Spirit among us in the service is primarily for edification. The word edification or to edify is mentioned five times in this one chapter. Those who come to Christ must be fed. We know that God Himself fed the children of Israel in the desert. Manna fell from heaven and water poured forth from the Rock. If it were not for the supernatural hand of God, all of the children of Israel would have starved in very short order or returned to Egypt. Now, in the NT God also feeds His children, and just as the children of Israel in the desert, we too shall die if He does not feed us or we shall turn to the world. We must be edified. He who prophecies speaks edification and exhortation and comfort to men.( 1 Cor 14:3) For he who prophecies is greater than he who speaks with tongues, unless indeed he interprets that the gathering may receive edification. (1 Cor 14:5) Even so, since you are zealous for spiritual gifts, let it be for the edification of the gathering. (1 Cor 14:12) Let all things be done for edification. (1 Cor 14:26)
So brothers and sisters, you see the clear purpose of the manifestation of the Holy Spirit among us as we gather. It is to edify us. To feed us, to build us up. To strengthen us. If we are not edified then we are not fed. If we reject the clear commandments of God then we are not fed. A intellect will not nourish your body, it needs to be fed spiritual food. God has, in His great wisdom, laid out how we shall be fed and from what source we shall be fed from. He is the source. He alone. We are not building up the intellect, we are strengthening the inner man. The spiritual man. And He can only be fed in the prescribed manner. Jesus says to the devil in the garden that man does not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds forth from the mouth of God. And so our singular source of spiritual food comes from the Word of God and the mouth of God. And how then does this happen? By the manifestation of the Spirit in our midst when we gather. He edifies through the prophet. He edifies through the word of knowledge. He edifies through the word of wisdom. He edifies through the interpreted tongue. He edifies through the Word. He edifies through a teaching. He edifies us in worship as we sing praises unto Him. In all these things, and more, He speaks to us and His words are life. They feed the deepest parts of who we are that we may rise up and be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. It is by His Spirit alone we are fed. To reject this is to starve.
1Co 13:1 Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not love , I am become as sounding brass, or a clanging cymbal.
In the previous sentence Paul tells us that we have to earnestly desire the best gifts. And yet, even above and beyond the best gifts, which we have indeed to earnestly desire, we must pursue love. It is not one or the other, God forbid. That’s a lie. Not only must the man or woman display the manifestation of the Spirit, above and beyond even that, He must walk in the greatest gift of all, love. Not human love, supernatural love. The kind of love that can only belong to the born again man or woman. The kind of love that shatters the gates of hell. The kind of love that inspired God to create us in the first place. The love that sent His only Son to die for the whole world. The kind of love that pursues us even when we are yet in our sin. The love that confounds hell itself. Forgive them Father, for they know not what they do. What kind of love motivated Jesus to cry this out in the midst of the greatest agony ever suffered? What kind of love would motivate Stephen to cry out the same thing even as those cruel merciless stones rained down upon his mortal body? Supernatural love. If one is truly endued with power from on high, that power will be first and foremost manifested in love in his or her life, the greatest manifestation of the Holy Spirit.
Paul begins with what love does not do or what it isn’t. It does not envy. It is not boastful. It is not full of pride. It does not behave in a deliberately offensive manner. It is not selfish. It is not easily provoked. It does not think the worse of people. It does not rejoice when others fall. Love, instead, revels in the truth, it bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things and endures all things. Love, indeed, never fails. It never fails. For this love is the manifestation of God Himself, in His own and through His own. It can never fail because God never fails. It is eternal for God is eternal. When the end comes, when the Lord Jesus Christ comes back and the Kingdom of God rules and reigns for all eternity then of course we wont have to hope any more, for all hope is fulfilled. We will no longer have to trust in the God that we cannot see, for now we shall see Him face to face.
Knowledge will vanish because we shall know as we are known. When all things are fulfilled in this manner, then love still stands forever. We are yet in this world, but the world to come is coming soon. Now we are like children, then we shall be complete in Him. Now we see in a mirror dimly, then face to face. Imagine it saints!!! There is now and there is then, we still exist in the now. And now we have the manifestation of the Spirit, then, all things are complete, perfect. And when that perfect has come, then all these other things, besides love, shall fall away. Do not let anyone fool you, do not be ignorant about these things brothers and sisters. For certain men have a form of Godliness, nevertheless they deny the power of God and say that it has ceased. From such men turn away.
Signs and wonders and miracles follow those who believe. It follows the dramatic transformation of souls, which is of course the greatest miracle of all. A large majority of Christendom seem only transfixed on miracles. We see in Acts 8-9 a man called Simon magician or sorcerer. Upon seeing the power of the Apostles, he wanted the same power and desired to “purchase,” it. Of course he is sternly rebuked. He is never mentioned in Scripture again. In extra biblical writings it seems he continued in his sorcery while still being around the Christian community. He gave rise to the word “Simony,” which means “using religion for profit.” Men like Simon would never move in the power of God. May I suggest we live in an age of Simony. There is so little evidence of the miraculous power of God in Christendom because Christendom in large part is run by men who “use religion for profit.” God is still a miracle working God, therefore if there is a fundamental lack of the true supernatural power among that which names itself the church, then that is a reflection on them and not upon our Lord who never changes.
If God has not changed, and of course He has not, then why it is that there is next to no supernatural power on display in what we call the church today? Can I suggest that one of the major causes is “Simony” those who “use religion for profit.” And Gideon said unto him, Oh my Lord, if the LORD be with us, why then is all this befallen us? and where be all his miracles which our fathers told us of, saying, Did not the LORD bring us up from Egypt? (Judges 6:13) Where are all the miracles Gideon asks? The very first thing Gideon had to do was tear down the idols of his fathers. What Gideon did, we will not do. The traditions of our fathers still stand and they are more important to us than the commandments of God. The definition of insanity is to keep doing the same things over and over again and expect different results. If there is a crisis and a lack of genuine power within the ranks of Christendom, then the answer is not to dim the lights, bring on the smoke machines and turn Sunday services into secular looking concerts. The answer, as always, lies within the Word of God and His commandments. 1 Cor 14. This is the model, and if we refuse to return to the Word of God in order to maintain our own traditions and the salaries of “senior pastors and so called worship leaders” then, of course, not only will nothing change, it will only get worse.
For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; (1Co 3:11-12)
There is but one foundation and His name is Jesus. How then shall we build upon that which was laid down for us? There are those who receive the love truth of the Word and the Lord Jesus Christ, high and lifted up. Nothing will cause them to deviate from what they have been taught by the Holy Spirit through the Word of God. Though cultures may change and systems may be added, they will have none of it. The traditions of men mean nothing to them, only the preeminence of the Lord Jesus Christ and Him crucified. They determined in their hearts to not know anything other than this, the great foundation of Christ. Though men may persecute them and burn them, the fire that men kindle cannot destroy the works of God in them, rather it but purifies them. They stand immovable upon the solid foundation and this is precious in the sight of God. Precious like spiritual gold and silver and precious stones.
Now, there are many who build upon His foundation with wood and hay and stubble. In any fire these elements burn up quickly and it leaves but ashes behind. Men will find out in that great day of what elements their work was of. I put it to you that most of what we see in Christendom today is but wood and hay and stubble. It shall all be swept away in the fire of God’s judgment and those involved will suffer great loss and come out of it with but his soul saved if he is indeed the Lord’s. Imagine the great tragedy of a lifetimes work gone in a moment of time. What you thought was precious, all of your works and efforts, revealed to be but wood, hay and stubble. Yet those whose works endure shall receive a reward. What works you might ask? The works of love and joy and peace in the midst of hatred and insecurity and anxiousness. The works of obedience to the Lord and to His word despite the traditions of men who set themselves up to come against anyone who would challenge their traditions and the authority they have.
God does not judge the outer man, he judges the inner secrets of the heart. He is not impressed with huge buildings and organizations of. He does not dwell in temples built by human hands. Heaven is His throne and earth is His footstool. In the last 2000 years these institutions have been led by stiff-necked men who always resist the Holy Spirit. They reject the Word of God in favor of the traditions of men and the pursuit of power and authority. It is all wood and hay and stubble. And yet there are the few who have built upon the true foundation with Truth and endurance, suffering and overcoming, to them belong the reward. They may have been hated here on earth but they walked in the love of God. They may not have a “ministry,’ as men measure these things but they minster to the Lord before His throne with the tears of their broken-hearts and their contrite spirits. Their narrow road home is laid upon the foundation of Christ and Him crucified. To walk this way is to suffer indignities. To be broken. To be ridiculed and rejected by men. To be seen as nothing according to the measurements of men but to have great treasure indeed in the economy of God. We are rich brothers and sisters, never forget that. Into our hands and hearts was placed gold and silver and precious jewels. And by these we have been called to enrich others.
Isa 66:12 For thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river, and the glory of the Gentiles like a flowing stream:
The Lord is coming back for His own. Those who know Jesus are one in Him. And in Christ there is glory. The very glory that He received from His Father, He has given to us. It flows from heaven itself and it carries its glory all the way to the sea, the sea of endless glory, before the throne room of God. My peace I give you says the Lord, not as the world gives peace but as only God can bring peace. Let not your hearts be troubled in a world that is plunging headlong towards judgement. A world that is rising up and shaking two angry fists at God. The heathens rage and the peoples are caught up in vanity. The kings and the rulers of this world set themselves against God and His anointed. Yet even still, let not your hearts be troubled, rather, know that all of this means His return is imminent.
Behold the Lord will come with fire and with chariots, like a whirlwind, to render His anger and His fury. With a sword in His hand, a sword that He does not wield in vain, He will judge all flesh. Every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. And of His glory there shall be no end. And His majesty shall be as a perpetual sun that never sets. The created sun is but a flickering candle in comparison to His perpetual radiance. And the vastness of the seas, but a single teardrop from the Masters eye. What mind can conceive what the Lord has prepared for those who love Him? For those who loved Him, yet were mocked and ridiculed and rejected and killed by the anger and the rage of a heathen world. Yet they overcame everything that the enemy threw at them by the Blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony and they loved not their lives unto death.
And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself. And he was clothed with a robe dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God. And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And he hath on his robe and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS (Rev 19-11-16)
Isa 62:6 I have set watchmen upon thy walls, O Jerusalem, they shall never hold their peace day or night: you that make mention of the LORD, do not keep silent.
God has set among us watchmen. Sentinels if you like. They see what you cannot see. They stand above the city on the rampart. They see the enemy a longs way of and they sound the alarm. They must be men or woman not given to much sleep, a watchmen who would fall asleep on his watch is no good no anybody. A watchman who who refuses to sound the alarm has only two excuses and neither of them are acceptable. He could not see the enemy coming or he was not willing to wake the people. Where have all the watchmen gone? As the greatest darkness the world has ever known approaches the gates of the city, what has become of those who were called to keep watch? The primary duty of any shepherd is to protect the flock. If the wolves are circling then drastic action must be taken.
Oh what useless men who see nothing and say nothing. Men who do not want to be disturbed. Men who want everything to be as it always was and have no spiritual discernment. No one would ever put a hireling on the wall. The men on the wall must have the greatest love for the people within its confines. Imagine the enemy has infiltrated the watchmen on the wall and they who get to keep their position must pay with their silence. What rogues, what scoundrels what utterly useless men are these? Can I put it to you brothers and sisters that in the midst of the great falling away we have been infiltrated. Men and women of God have been instructed to “not keep silent.” We are to give God no rest until the He establishes that what He means to achieve. Is your shepherd a watchman on the wall or a hireling just looking to keep his position?
Those who stand in the evil day may fall in this world but they shall arise in the next. They shall enter through his gates with thanksgiving and into His courts with praise. For they have prepared the way for the people and they have built them up. They have built up the highway of holiness and lifted up a banner for all the world to see. And they are called His Holy people, the redeemed of the Lord and they have lost their former title of forsaken and now they are the sought out ones. Brothers and sisters, we are not ashamed of the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ for it is the power of God unto salvation. We shall not keep silent. We will never be ashamed. The righteousness of Christ is revealed in the His chosen vessels, His anointed, His excellent ones. We are that people my fellow saints. Men may try and suppress the truth in unrighteousness yet the wrath of God shall be revealed from heaven and His watchmen shall shout it from highest rampart where flies the banner of Christ, it flutters in the wind of the Holy Spirit.
Isa 62:1………….I will not rest, until her righteousness goes forth as brightness, and her salvation as a lamp that burns.
The genuine saint cannot keep silent, they can never rest, day and night the fire of the Lord and His brightness burns inside the depths of him. In Jeremiah 20:9 we hear the prophet cry out “then I will not make mention of Him, nor speak anymore in His name……………but His Word was in my heart like a burning fire shut up in my bones, I was weary of holding it back and I could not.” In another place the Apostle Paul says “For if I preach the gospel I have nothing to boast of, for necessity is laid upon me, yes woe is me if I do not preach the gospel……..it would be better for me to die!” Can you see what passion drives these men who are filled with the Holy Spirit? There is a fire in their bones that flows from the furnace that is their broken hearts. Brothers and sisters, do we burn with such intensity? Do we have such a grand obsession that drives us and awakes us with the morning light, and yet still burns long after the sun has gone down?
Brothers and sisters were we not forsaken? Were we not lost and dead in our sins? Yet that which was forsaken is no longer forsaken. The hand of God holds the crown that He shall put upon our heads. We are a royal diadem in the hand of our God. And as the Bridegroom rejoices over the bride so does us our God rejoice over us. He has covered our nakedness with His righteousness, He has surrounded us with His glory and it fills our heart to overflowing, like a mighty waterfall of fire. Fire in the land and glory in the heavens. The earth is covered in His glory like the waters cover the sea. What ocean could contain Him? Is not just one chamber of His heart greater than the whole universe. Just one tear from His eye deeper than the deepest sea?
He heals our wounds, He tenderly touches our weary hearts. He feeds the deepest parts of us and sustains us for the journey. He restores the brokenhearted and gives strength to the weary. He gives us hope when there seems to be no hope. He gives us joy when there is nothing at all to be joyful about. He gives us a garment of praise and takes away a heavy spirit. He bids us to lift up our eyes and see the celestial city, from where our help comes from. Stay the course brothers and sisters. Stand fast in the time of our vexation. Our Lord is coming soon and our journey will be at an end.
Isa 56:8 The Lord GOD who gathers the outcasts of Israel saith, Yet will I gather others to him, beside those that are gathered unto him.
What a fantastic promise the Lord makes here. He will gather the outcasts, He will gather the remnant, He will gather men and woman from every tribe and every tongue and every nation. Spartacus, a slave, a gladiator, rose up and with his slave army and took the might of the Roman army to the brink of destruction. Yet we are no slave army led by a slave. We are the army of the Lord and Jesus is our leader. He gathers around Himself the outcasts, the rejected, the overlooked. The weakest men from the weakest clans are His army. He raises up paupers to walk with Kings. He takes men and women from the ash heaps of life and He makes something very beautiful out of them. In Psalm 147:2-4 we see that “The Lord builds up Jerusalem, He gathers together the outcasts of Israel. He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds and counts the number of the stars, He calls them all by name.” The number of His outcast army is innumerable but He knows them all by name. Great is the Lord and mighty in power. His understanding is infinite and He raises up the humble.
This outcast army, this royal priesthood, this holy nation, this special people as unto the Lord, are brought to His Holy mountain and they are made joyful in His house of prayer. A house of prayer brothers and sisters, His house shall be known as a house of prayer. And His glory shall cover it. His glory rises in the restored hearts of the outcasts, the rejected, the humbled, the remnant saints. And whether they are Jews or Greeks, whether they are slaves or free, they all have been made to drink into one Spirit and by this one Spirit they are baptized into one Body. One Body rises up. One unity comes forth. The one and only Christ is lifted up as a banner that flutters in the wind of the Spirit over the battle-field that is called life. Only one side can prevail. Only one side will prevail. What side shall we align ourselves with in this the great battle of eternity? Shall we stand under the banner of Christ and align ourselves with His outcast army? Or shall we align ourselves with the world, so sophisticated and enlightened in their own minds, mockers and ridiculers of the saints? There is one battle. One Christ. One army. One Truth. All else is but shades of gray walking in a darkened mist created by the world’s own vain imagination.
Isa 54:7 For a mere moment have I forsaken you; but with great mercies will I gather you.
There are times and seasons when it seems that we are forsaken. In our personal lives and our corporate lives of gathering, we seem forsaken and lost. In the midst of trials that seem like they will never come to an end. In the midst of a wicked world that only seems to grow more wicked every day, the sense of being alone may creep in. Lest we think we are above these thoughts consider the cry’s of Jesus from the cross. The remnant people of the Lord, scattered everywhere, often struggle mightily with these thoughts, you might be struggling with them even as you read this. God has His people and His eye is upon them. If His eye is upon the sparrow, how much more so is it on you dear saint? In the state where we are scattered and separated from Babylon, we must remember this “with great mercies I will gather you.”
We are the Bride of Christ and our Maker is our husband. We are the redeemed of the Lord and He has called us. In the midst of darkness and wrath He has hid His face for a moment. Did not He turn His face away from the Lord Jesus? Yet we know this, we are the recipients of everlasting kindness and His mercy is new every morning. The mountains may depart and the hills be removed but His kindness shall not depart from us, even if for a moment it is hidden. He recognizes our afflictions saints. He sees our troubles. O you afflicted one, tossed with tempest and not comforted (Isa 54:11) The Disciples were so tossed with tempest as they crossed over this treacherous body of water. Yet, they see a figure walking towards them on the water. In the midst of their calamity here comes Jesus. He bids Peter to arise and come join Him in the very heart of the storm. With eyes on Jesus, Peter walks upon the water and above the storm.
The remnant saints of the Lord Jesus, the Body of Christ, the Church may seem to be on the ropes as the gross darkness rises around the world and the gates of hell seemed to be loosed all about us. Troubles without, fears within, yet God. In righteousness you shall be established. God is creating a work that shall astonish the principalities and powers. This temple, this Body, this Church may not look like much and may seem to be on the ropes, but it is far from that, we are being molded in the eye of the storm. We shall arise on the wings of our Bridegroom. Our gates shall be of crystal and our walls of precious stones. And the pinnacles of our towers shall be made of rubies. The pearl of great price is the foundation of His Holy Temple, we are that temple of the Lord, built without human hands and no weapon formed against us shall prosper. Every tongue which rises against us in judgement shall find itself judged by the saints in that day. This is the heritage of the servants of God and their righteousness is Christ Himself.
Isa 52:3 For thus saith the LORD, you have sold yourselves for nothing; and ye shall be redeemed without money.
So many of the saints today have given themselves over to the world. They were not taken or bought, but freely they have given themselves to the things of this world. Remember saints, we were bought with a price, if you give something away, your giving away what was not yours in the first place. The price was already paid for you, you were purchased by something far more valuable than gold or silver, you were bought by the precious Blood of the Lamb. The coming captivity of the saints will be the refining fire that brings them back to where they belong. As the things of this world are slowly stripped away from a whole generation who call themselves after His name, then the treasure that lies within them shall come forth. The dross shall surely be burned up, but when the smoke of the refining fire clears then only gold shall remain.
Shake yourself from the dust and arise!…..Loose yourself from the bonds of your neck O captive daughter of Zion. ( Isa 52:2) Depart! Depart! Go out from there, touch no unclean thing. Go out from the midst of her. Be clean, you who bear the vessels of the Lord ( Isa 52:11) The Lord is calling His people out of Babylon and He will purify any traces of Babylon from your heart. As we take our rightful place as a Royal Priesthood, and remember that we are a chosen people and God’s special possession, then we shall indeed declare the praises of Him who has called us out of darkness and into His marvelous light. He is calling out to us brothers and sisters. We are to shake of the dust and arise! We are being called to throw of all the influences of “Babylon.” And as we do, and as the dust is falling to the ground and our footsteps take us ever further from Babylon, then we shall break forth into great joy and sing together, for the Lord has comforted His people.
The Lord will make bare His holy arm as we Arise! In the eyes of all the nations it shall be seen, when the Lord restores His people without cost. The watchmen shall lift up their voices, with their voices they shall sing together as they leave Babylon behind and head down the narrow path towards Zion. For the saints shall walk in the unity that Jesus prophesied in John 17. They shall see the glory of their God and they shall see eye to eye as they walk in lockstep in the midst of the refining fire. We shall not go out with haste but with great deliberation, for we shall be a people who have counted the cost and tuned our back on Babylon forever. And we shall be a people who will overcome the enemy by the Blood of the Lamb and by the word of our testimony. And this last part shall be our greatest defining attribute, we shall love not our lives unto death. Though death may rage all around us, the life of Christ in us overcomes deaths power. It has no hold over us.
Isa 51:1 Listen to me, you who follow after righteousness, you who seek the Lord.
Three times in this chapter God says “Listen to me.” And when the Lord repeats Himself three times we should indeed listen. First of all, who is He talking to? In the first verse we see that it is “you who follow after righteousness, you who seek the Lord.” In verse 4 He says “Listen to me My people.” And finally in the 7th verse He says “Listen to me you who know righteousness , you people in whose heart is My law.” God is clearly talking to His people. A people who follow after His righteousness, a people whom God refers to as His own and those who “know,” Him and whose heart there is inscribed upon it, the law. He is talking to you and I. He wants to tell us two main things in this chapter. Firstly, He speaks of comfort, and secondly He wants us to stand up and put on strength.
His comfort comes in a series of promises and directions. He tells us to look to the rock from which we have been cut from. Consider where you came from and how you were delivered. And who delivered you and by what means. All of it glorious. You were delivered by the hand of God, the nail pierced hand. You were delivered from the gates of hell, from the miry clay, from the pigsty. You were delivered from death itself and born again into the newness of life. God says that He would make the waste places, the wilderness, the place of drought and death, like the garden of Eden. Where nothing grew, now stands a magnificent garden where rivers of living water flow. Joy and gladness will be found there and the sound of thanksgiving will be heard by the voice of melody. You are His garden. From this place we are a light unto the nations. His righteousness shall be near to them and His salvation will go forth before them.
Yet He also says to His people “AWAKE, AWAKE and put on strength, AWAKE, AWAKE and stand up!” Stand up brothers and sister. Rise up and put on your armor for the battle lies before us. He is the Lord your maker who stretched out the heavens and laid the foundations of the earth. Shall you be afraid of mere men, who, if you cut them they bleed, or who, when they take their last breath they die? God says ” I have put My words in your mouth, I have covered you with the shadow of My Hand, that I may plant the heavens and lay the foundations of the earth and say to Zion, you are My people.” A call to arms brothers and sisters for the last days war. Arise from your slumbers and put on the full armor of God and come forward in the power of His indignation, for you are covered by the shadow of His hand. Do not worry what you shall say for God says “I have put My words in your mouth.” He has also put a sword in your hand and shield in the other. He has put upon your head the helmet of salvation and upon your chest He has put the breastplate of righteousness. You stand in the shoes of peace and your loins are girded with Truth. You stand whole and complete, ready for battle, in the salvation of your God.
The term “quiet quitting,” is a relatively new term and for the most part, would be unknown to most baby-boomers. It is a phenomenon among today’s generation and its spreading quickly. In essence, quiet quitting means not going above and beyond at work. Showing up, ticking the necessary boxes, doing just enough to cover yourself and guarantee your salary. Notions of loyalty and ambition to climb the corporate ladder are forgone in favor of pursuing that which personally fulfills you. Now some may say that this describes lazy workers that have been among us in every generation, those who do just enough to get by. That may be true of some of the quiet quitters, yet our younger generations have grown up in ease and they expect that their personal ambitions and desires should be fulfilled.
Is this what decadence looks like? We are far removed from the pre-war generation who lived through a decade of dire poverty and want. Who then passed on their attitudes to the baby-boomers and they in turn lived them out to a lesser degree but who wanted much more for their children and grandchildren. The faint echos of a bygone age are now drowned out by the aspirations of the decadent who are on the march, not helped by the fact that they are just about to inherit the greatest fortune every gathered by any generation in the history of the world. Perhaps if we knew just a little more about the Fall of Rome we would be able to see our own rapid decline in the luxurious desires of a generation that knows little if anything about struggle?
What puts steel in the backbone of any generation is a certain amount of suffering, the experience of doing without. The desire to rise up above unfavorable circumstances builds in men and women something of what we saw in “the greatest generation.” They came out of the farms, many of which had been ruined by the dust bowl, and they came out of the mean cities where one had to really compete just to put a roof over the head and food on the table. These circumstance gave us the strength to overcome the axis powers of evil and save civilization. There were no safe spaces on the battle-field. No special toilets for those who were confused about their gender. They did not have the luxury of quiet quitting. Everything was put on the line and many paid the ultimate price.
In the church today, Christendom is full of quiet quitters. Those who do just enough to get by. Who show up to a service and tick the box. Who have desires and aspirations quite apart from serving God. Who would claim that they are just not being fulfilled by their life. Who would be horrified at the prospect of suffering for the cause of Christ. Who would perhaps curse God because of great loss. Where are the warriors for Christ? Where is the Church militant? Is there any cause worth dying for in a generation that only sees God as a means to an end? Where is the generation of the cross? Where are the people who willingly step forward to go above and beyond their own selfish desires and whose highest ambition is to serve God on this battlefield of life? If your fulfillment in this life is more important to you than the job that the Lord has assigned you, and you are a quiet quitter, then is it any wonder that we live our lives in shades of grey? Chasing rainbows rather than seeking God is a sure sign that you are an entrenched quiet quitter in the spiritual walk of life.
Isa 50:4 The Lord GOD hath given me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to him that is weary.
In Daniel 7:25 it says “And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.” We are living in a time when the laws are being changed. The natural laws handed down to us by God Himself are being changed by folks who speak great swelling words. Their rebellion is almost complete. The foundations are being destroyed, what shall the righteous do? The battle lines are being drawn by the prince of the power of the air, of this I have no doubt. The saints are wearied and are being worn out by an deluge of wickedness, and still the flood comes. Daniel says that we shall be given into his hand “until a time and times and the dividing of times.” Rev 13:7 says “And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.”
And so, a word to the weary and the worn out saints. Yes a mighty flood of evil has engulfed the world, but our Lord says in His Word that when the enemy comes in like a flood, He shall raise up a standard. He has prepared a highway of Holiness that leads through fire and flood. He has given us a tongue. A word of knowledge, a word of wisdom, a heavenly word that only the Spirit can discern. A word of encouragement. God Himself has given a learned tongue, touched by the Blood of the Lamb and coals of refining fire. Those who oppose you will increase as you continue to stand unmoved by the cultural winds that are beginning to blow with hurricane force. But you will not fall because trial and tribulation and temptations have been your lot for many years now, and your roots have went down deep into the waters of life. You have seen how God has been faithful to you through every situation and because of that your own faith has increased; to God be the glory.
Truth has consumed you and transformed you and you are a lover of it and no power that exists will wrestle it away from you. And of course the Word of God is your delight. It is the foundation upon which you stand. It allows you to stand, unmovable. It is a lamp unto your feet in the ever-increasing darkness of this world and it lights up the narrow path ahead. Stand fast brothers and sisters, the gates of hell shall not prevail against those who stand. He shall awaken you morning by morning. He is the stillness of your soul and He touches every part of your longing heart. He is in every tear that falls and in the billowing waves He hears you call. He shall be your quiet peace as the sun rises in the morning and your calm assurance in the night. He will be your laughter in the rain and your endurance through the pain. In the silence and in the noise you shall hear His still small voice and in this my brothers and sisters you shall rejoice. He rises up like the sun above the mountains, and He will refresh you from His inexhaustible fountains.
Today we are being driven by the form and not the substance. Jesus is the substance. Jesus is the primary object. Jesus is the preeminent one. Without Him high and lifted up, front and center, without His presence in our midst we only have a form. A religious structure built by human hands to house our own desires. We have abandoned the real Jesus and constructed another Jesus. This other Jesus serves us. He serves our needs and desires, he entertains us through his creators. This other Jesus has never carried a cross nor does he require his followers to carry one either.
This cultural Jesus is a mere reflection of his adherents. He never judges, he never corrects. He has no particular requirements. He is a genie in a bottle even although they vigorously rub and he never appears. He does not walk with them, they walk alone. He does not talk to them, they merely engage their own imaginations. He lies to them through the prism of their souls. They hear him say peace and prosperity. He is a reflection of the better part of their natures and they do not realize that the better part of their natures is like filthy rags to the true and living God.
If these people ever actually encountered the true and the living Christ He would devastate them and upturn their lives. Everything they know or thought they knew would come crashing down. A God who judges? Hear the screams. A God who calls them to enter into His sufferings? Hear the wails. A God who requires their whole lives, their whole hearts, their whole allegiances? They writhe in agony. The flesh that refuses to die is enmity to God. He bids that flesh to voluntarily pick up its cross, the means of its own death. It shall surrender or it will rage against the author of the cross.
The narrow path never deviates as it winds its way home. It is fraught with danger. It slowly strips away all of the baggage that we took with us for our journey. It tears away at the flesh and passes through refining fires and floods. It often winds it way through hot and arid deserts. The narrow path has many exits and every exist is a path of least resistance. As soon as one steps onto it one can hear the haunting intoxicating sound of the siren call as it draws that one away from the narrow path.
For those who stay the course and stay on the narrow path, every so often, always suddenly, the Lord comes to us. He reminds us that we are His, He encourages us. He bids us look down and see that the path itself is the Word of God and that the path lights up and directs us in the way that we should go. We are instructed to turn neither to the left nor to the right. The Lord embraces us in His love and His kindness.
He heals our wounds, He tenderly touches our weary hearts. He feeds the deepest parts of us and sustains us for the journey. He restores the brokenhearted and gives strength to the weary. He gives us hope when there seems to be no hope. He gives us joy when there is nothing at all to be joyful about. He gives us a garment of praise and takes away a heavy spirit. He bids us to lift up our eyes and see the celestial city, from where our help comes from. Stay the course brothers and sisters. Stand fast in the time of our vexation. Our Lord is coming soon and our journey will be at an end.
Isa 44:3 For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground: I will pour my spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine offspring:
The Lord our God has made so many promises to His people. He said He would never leave us not forsake us. He said He would endue us with power from on high. He said He would satisfy those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. He promised that the meek would inherit the earth and that the pure in heart would see God. He promised the Kingdom of heaven to those who are persecuted for righteousness sake. He promised that the peacemakers shall be called the sons of God. He promised the over-comers, those who endure to the end, that they would eat from the tree of life which is in the midst of the Paradise of God. To the same over-comers He promised that they shall not be hurt by the second death. To those who are faithful unto death He promised the crown of life. Hidden manna, a new name, the power over nations and the morning star. Finally, He promises to the faithful, that they shall sit down with Him on His throne and rule and reign with Him.
These, you will notice, are not unconditional promises. We have our part to play. Yet for the joy and the glory set before us, we shall gladly lay down our lives for the name and for the sake of Jesus. He will pour water on the thirsty and floods of water on the dry ground. And for those of His who ask He shall pour out His spirit upon them, He shall fill them and fill them and fill them again with power from on High. They shall stand where others fall. They shall love where others hate. They will be peace-makers in a land of division and strife. They will be pure of heart in a world that is horribly corrupt. His blessings shall pour forth on the offspring of His own and they shall spring up among the grass like willows by the watercourses. They shall fly like summer larks in the golden hues of a setting sun. They will soar like eagles among the mountaintops. The sons and the daughters of God shall be a manifestation of His presence in the land and the world has yet some hope while they walk this earth.
Isa 40:4 Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places smooth.
In the previous verse we see that the prophet, not just this prophet, but the role of the prophet is to be the voice of one crying in the wilderness. The wilderness is a world without God. A world that has rejected God and the highway that makes its way through the wilderness is established by God through His prophets and by the Blood of Christ Himself. This highway is the Holy Highway of the saints. John the Baptist would famously repeat the words of the prophet Isaiah in John 1:23. John was in the wilderness crying out the message of repentance, He was making the way for His Lord to come in this sense. We too saints are ones crying in the wilderness. We too are a light that dwells in the darkness who cry out to a world lost in sin to repent for the Lord is coming.
Those who walk along the valley floor, along the Highway of Holiness that runs through the wilderness of sin and death and rejection of God, shall be exalted up into the high places of our God where He dwells with the broken and the contrite. For thus says the Lord, I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones( Isa 57:15) Every mountain and hill or any high thing that exalts itself against the Lord our God shall be brought low. The proud shall indeed be humbled as the glory of the Lord is revealed. The crooked places, the lies, the deceit the vain imaginations of men and all arguments that exalt itself above the Lord shall be made straight as the signs of His coming begin to appear.
All flesh is grass and its beauty is like the the flowers of the field. The world and all who dwell in it fade away. Only by the very breath of God are all things maintained. The one thing that remains is the Word of God and it stands forever. He is coming and and the nations shall discover they are as a drop in bucket. They will faint and lose heart as they begin to understand that it is God Himself that stretches out the heavens like a curtain. He brings the proud and elite men of this world to nothing. The Lord blows upon them and they wither in the whirlwind and are taken away like stubble in the wind. Yet to those who walk along the highway of Holiness, He increases their strength. He dwells with the lowly of heart and renews them. They shall run and not grow weary, they shall walk and not faint and they indeed shall rise up with wings like eagles and fly to the high and holy place where the spirit of the humble is revived.
Isa 33:5 The LORD is exalted; for He dwells on high: he has filled Zion with judgment and righteousness.
The Lord our God dwells on high. He is high above the fray. He is high and lifted up above mere mortal men and their affairs. Nothing touches His glory, nothing defiles the beauty of His holiness. He is not righteous, He is righteousness. His judgments flow from justice. He is justice. He fills His children with righteousness and judgment. In a day where everything is spinning out of control, the wisdom of God in us, and the knowledge of God in us, this is our stability (And wisdom and knowledge shall be the stability of thy times Isa 33:6) Salvation is our strength and the fear of the Lord is our treasure. This is our solid ground upon which we shall not be moved.
This which is to come has not overtaken us like a thief in the night. The Lord speaks to the hearts of His sons and daughters. They “see,” what is soon coming in the midst of a world overtaken by madness and blindness. The strength of our “knowing,’ God is the strength that will see us through. When all around us is spinning out of control and they come against us like men possessed, then they shall truly see the glory of our God. They will see indeed that He is exalted and magnified and they will see it in a people who know. What do we know? We know God in the intimate sense of that word. Tis not in the head but in the depths of the heart. And because His Spirit speaks to us we know that “now I will rise, says the the Lord, now I will be exalted, now I will lift Myself up.” (Is 33:10)
Christ is at the door. Let us lift up the eyes of our Spirit and see His appearing. Magnify Him from the depths of your heart to a broken and dying world which has plunged into darkness. The Lord promises us saints, that in that day there shall be a tabernacle that shall never be taken down. Not one of its stakes removed nor will any of its cords be broken. There the majestic Lord will be for us a a place of broad rivers and streams. Can you see it brothers and sisters? Can you see what the Lord will do when He comes back to judge the earth and raises up His children? Can you catch a glimpse of His glory? Magnify Him in your hearts today, exalt Him today and let your spirit go to where the glory is for He dwells on high and we dwell with Him.
A Call To The Remnant 