Isa 30:10……………………..Do not prophesy to us right things, speak to us smooth things and prophesy delusions.
In verse eight of Isaiah 30 it was written than the next words are so important that it should be “written on a tablet.” Write it down on a scroll for all to see for all times to come. Not only is the generation here spoken of wicked, and trust in oppression and perversity, but so also shall all proceeding generations fall into their perverse ways. The pattern would, and has, repeated itself over and over again and will do so until the Lord Himself comes back again the second time. In Jesus’ day, He spoke to a wicked and perverse generation. We live today in such a generation. Not any old generation mind you, but the generation that proceeds the coming of the Lord so therefore our generation is akin to the times of Noah.
This generation perhaps more than any other demand “smooth words,” to be spoken to them from the pulpit or anywhere else. They do not desire to hear what is right, they would rather have their ears tickled. God spoke to this situation. ” Because you despise this word (the word of God) and trust in oppression (where the true prophets are muzzled) and perversity, and rely upon them, therefore this iniquity shall be for you.” What iniquity is God speaking of here? He says that this generation is like a bulge in a high wall and the fall will come in an instant. He likens them to lying children who will not be led by the Word of God. They prefer the traditions of their fathers that demand nothing more than an outward show, but have no inner reality. Anyone who dares to point out the glaring discrepancies in the lives of these people are hated and despised and ridiculed and banished. In older days they would be burned at the stake.
The solution the Lord tells us in verse 15 is “In returning and rest you shall be saved and in quietness and confidence you would find your strength.” Come to me says the Lord Jesus all you who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest. There is rest and strength to be found in coming to Jesus. Yet, we see that they would not come to God and be saved. They would have no rest. They would have no strength. They would run from God, they would ride on swift horses to get as far away from God as they could, but you cannot run from God. Their hearts fainted and even at the threat of one, a thousand shall flee we read in Isaiah 30. Contrast that to the saints spoken of in Psalm 91 ” A thousand may fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand, but none of it shall come near you.” What a privileged people we are who dwell in the secret place of the Most High God, who abide under the shadow of the Almighty. He is indeed our refuge and our fortress, our God in whom we shall trust.
If I go forth into the field, then behold the slain with the sword! and if I enter into the city, then behold them that are sick with famine! yea, both the prophet and the priest go about into a land that they know not. (Jer 14:18)
Famine and drought plague the land. The spiritually dead are everywhere. And where they are not dead they are sick with the famine. And yet in the midst of this the prophets and the priests cry out to a willingly blind people that peace and prosperity lie just ahead of them. They say that they are enriched yet the very riches they have gathered to themselves have shut up the skies.
Then the LORD said unto me, The prophets prophesy lies in my name: I sent them not, neither have I commanded them, neither spake unto them: they prophesy unto you a false vision and divination, and a thing of nought, and the deceit of their heart…….. And the people to whom they prophesy shall be cast out in the streets of Jerusalem.(Jer 14:14-16)
Those who follow the blind prophets, who willingly have forsaken spiritual eyes for worldly treasure will suffer the same fate as these blind leaders of the blind. Pray now that the Lord will give you eyes to see that your gold is actually brass. Your peace based on circumstances is an allusion, it is the peace of the world that will be shaken to and fro. The people of the world rely on the rain that falls from the sky and the grass of the field to feed their livestock. How feeble is that peace? How dim is the light from the sparks of a fire of their own making?
Seek now, while it can yet be found, living waters. Let the food of your soul be the Word of God to you. These alone will sustain you. The full effects of the drought and the famine is gripping the necks of the willfully blind like a lion grips the neck of its prey after the chase , just prior to its demise.
Jer 15:11 The LORD said, Verily it shall be well with thy remnant;
Even in the midst of great turmoil God’s hand shall remain upon His people. As spiritual darkness falls on every nation, there is a light that dwells in the chests of His children. Even as the world is spiritually ravished and morally bankrupted, the saints of God will fall deeper into the heart of God and will shine like true heavenly gold amidst a wicked and perverse generation.
Madam Guyon writes…………….I am deeply grieved that so many in this day(she lived 300 years ago, people never change)even some good people, allow themselves to be led astray by the enemy. Has not God warned us against false prophets and lying wonders of the last days? All true prophets have spoken in the name of the Lord-“Thus says the Lord.” The enemy gains great advantage because people love extraordinary manifestations, signs and wonders. I believe the inordinate love of external signs is used of the enemy to draw people away from the Word of God and from the inward way of faith.The signs that come from God encourage you to die to yourself. Manifestations that come from God will humble, quiet, and edify you. Elijah appeared alone among four hundred prophets of Baal. These prophets were all stirred up and were attracting much attention by their loud prophesyings.But when Elijah was told by the angel that he would see the Lord in Mount Horeb, he went out and hid in a cave, and he saw the earth tremble. God was not there. Then came the whirlwind, God was not there. Then there came a gentle, little breeze. God was in the still, small voice. The only true and safe revelation is an inward revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ in the quiet of your spirit. ” My sheep hear My voice.”
We are living in the days of Baal and he has many prophets. The closer we get to the Lord’s return and the closer we get to the approaching storm with all of its darkness, the louder the noise becomes. It is vital saint, that you can drown out the noise of the world and its many prophets and seers. The world has them, Christendom has them and they make much noise but the Lord is in the quiet breeze. He is in the depths of your spirit. He is in His Word which has saturated your soul. Take no heed of the world but listen for the still, small voice that resides in the depths of your heart. The world has its prognosticators, turn on CNN and Fox News and listen to their “pundits/seers,” tell you what is happening and what will happen if you do not do this that or the other. On these shows you will also see politicians who also act as seers and who have their followers. All men merely chasing after the wind.
Christendom also has its prophets of Baal. They love the applause of men. They love to be admired. Their talk is almost always about miracles and money, miracles and money. They will talk to you about riches and faith as if faith itself were a thing to be worshiped and adored and sought after. They will tell you how to live your best life now and they will lead by example. While the Son of man had no where to lay His head, these prophets who worship money live in mansions bought and paid for by peddling the Word of God. They sell wisdom and faith and miracles and yet if they were truly wise they would know what their end will be for all those who make merchandise of God’s little one’s. ” Depart from me ye workers of iniquity for I never knew you.”
It is vital saints that we take refuge in the still small voice. God will speak in the stillness, He will lead and guide you in the depths of your spirit and through His Word. Saturate yourself with His Word and carve out for yourself quietness. You must get alone with God and away from the maddening crowd. Do not follow after signs and wonders let signs and wonders follow after you. The Lord Himself would attract crowds yet He almost always withdrew from them to get alone with His Father. Prophets of Baal promote themselves and chase after crowds to put on ” miracle shows,” in the crassness of their folly. The Lord did the exact opposite. When the crowd would crown Him, He would not commit Himself to them for He knew what was in the heart of such a crowd. This crown that the Lord rejected is sought after by the prophets of Baal. With this crown comes the applause of man, with the crown of thorns comes the ridicule of man. The crown of men lifts up their prophets onto an exalted platform, the crown of thorns lifts you up onto a cross. The crown of men clothes you with the finest robes, the crown of thorns strips you naked. The crown of men causes the world to love you, the crown of thorns causes men everywhere to reject you. Which crown does your prophet wear? Which crown would you wear? Choose the crown of thorns and live eternally, choose the crown of Baal and die eternally. Listen, can you hear what the Lord says? It’s in the quiet breeze.
These are challenging words to the Church from a good friend of mine, Greg Gordon of Sermonindex.net ministries. Greg himself does not believe that the Evangelical church is finished. This is one of the few area’s that we disagree. The new wine that is coming cannot be poured into old wineskin, just as there was no room in Catholicism for Luthers 95 Theses although many at the time argued that there was, history of course has proven them wrong. The reformation was only a limited reform with much of the model of Catholicism retained. The remnant church of the end times will be radically different, praise God. It will not be a Catholic model, it will be an Acts model. Just as the Catholics fought the Lutherens, so the Evangelicals will srongly resist any attempt to model the church of Acts.Read the rest of this entry »
I am bombarded with talk or letters about the coming shortages in our national life: bread, fuel, energy. I read between the lines from people not practiced in scaring folk. They feel that the “seven years of plenty” are over for us. The “seven years of famine” are ahead. But the greatest famine of all in this nation at this given moment is a FAMINE OF THE HEARING OF THE WORDS OF GOD (Amos 8:11).
You have gathered here today in defiance of darkness and tyranny. You have come here to fight as free men and free men you are, for it is I that gave you that very freedom. So you see with your eyes that you are few and they are many, you see that you are vastly outnumbered. Will you fight today?Read the rest of this entry »
There is a time for shouting and praising God, but if we are ignoring the knocking, then we must stop shouting. If our lives are not reflecting the Glory of God, if we are not becoming like His Son, daily, then all of our shouting and praising God will just be so much noise. How tragic for the church of the living God if, when He looks down, He does not see praise but just a group of people making a noise.”Read the rest of this entry »
“Jesus has many who love His kingdom in heaven, but few who bear His cross. He has many who desire comfort, but few who desire suffering. He finds many to share His feast, but few His fasting.All desire to rejoice with Him, but few are willing to suffer for His sake. Many follow Jesus to the breaking of the bread, but few to the drinking of the cup of His passion. Many admire the miracles, but few follow Him to the humiliation of the cross. Many love Jesus as long as no hardship touches them.”
This is a vision that I had as I stood on a terrace in Croatia. My wife and I went there last year on our 25th anniversary. Before I went the Lord had shown me that I would meet someone there and that it would be significant, just did not know that He was talking about Himself. The whole piece was my vision, He gave me a new way of writing my testimony and of writing about coming into His presence, then the Word that He gave me for the church, I wrote in red at the end. I pray that this will challenge and convict you………….
They will gather together and throw in their gold and rise up and play, or in this case, fall down and play. You see the people are without leadership, and the Lord has with-held His rain. So the people have demanded gods to go before them, listen to what they said to Aaron…”make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we know not what is become of him. “
A Call To The Remnant 