Hos 2:20 I will even betroth you to Me in faithfulness: and thou shalt know the LORD.
My father died a few months ago. He was 83. My mum is 82. They were engaged for five years and married for 62 years. And just days after my father passed away, the Lord spoke to my mothers heart. He said “I will be your husband now.” It brought her so much peace. To know that every aspect of her earthly husband, protection, provision, companionship would be met by her Lord. It is not that she did not know the Lord in these ways before my father died, but in the absence of her husband here on earth, she would suffer no loss, quite the opposite. He is more than enough. He betroths us in His faithfulness and in that we become intimate with Him in the deepest recesses of our hearts. This is His vow to us. And if we know one thing about the Lord, He will do what He said He will do. And in that sure knowledge we rest, our troubled hearts lie down in His arms. Is there anywhere more secure than that?
Perhaps you have suffered such a loss? Perhaps your husband or wife is far from perfect and your hurting heart cries out to God? He knows. He sees. He cares and He listens to the heart cries of His own. The vows we make to our spouses last a lifetime. The promises we have from our Lord lasts for all eternity. In the following verse it says this “It shall come to pass in that day that I will answer says the Lord. I will answer the heavens and they shall answer the earth.” Is that not some of the most beautiful language you will ever hear? Though the heavens may have been silent, now they respond. The long lasting drought comes to and end and the heavens open wide and there falls a glorious soaking rain that quenches the dry and thirsty land. And oh how the land responds by bringing forth its fruit. God is the heavens and we are the earth. The rain, the deluge after the drought is His presence and His fruit in us is manifested in love and joy and peace and thanksgiving. Praise the Living God for He has betrothed us!
Hos 2:15 And I will give her her vineyards from there, and the valley of Achor as a door of hope: and she shall sing there, as in the days of her youth, and as in the day when she came up out of the land of Egypt.
In the first part of this chapter we see that Israel has ran after other lovers, just like the wife of Hosea. It would seem certain then that God would, and should be finished with them yet He says this “Therefore behold I will allure her, I will bring her into the wilderness.” His ways are certainly not our ways. He calls us back to Himself, so great is His mercy. He loves us still when we should not be loved, so great is His passion for His people. He draws us into a place where He has all of our attention, a wilderness place, a place of no hope perhaps that we might cry out to the Lord our God. And from that place He says he will give us vineyards. Grapes growing in the desert places. Fruit coming forth where there should be no fruit. And all of them watered in the valley of Achor, that is to say the valley of tears. These tears become a wellspring of hope and not despair. A door that opens where no door was. It suddenly appears to us and beckons us to pass through. It’s the door of His presence, its the joy of our youth, its our coming back to the our first and only true love. Jesus.
Even now, Jesus stretches out His hand and stands as an open door and invites us to come to Him. He should judge us, He should reject us, He should destroy us for running after other lovers. He calls Hosea to forgive his wife, to redeem His wife, to even look after her in the midst of her harlotry. Oh, what love is this that would redeem us from the marketplace and that would cover our nakedness? Is He calling today to a wayward people to come to Him before it is too late? Yes indeed. His faithfulness to a stubborn unfaithful people is beyond us. It is too high for us to understand. It is too deep for us to plummet its depths. Yet, there He stands, an open door with open arms. Who will come to, and through this door of hope that appears in the depths of the valley of tears?
Events in the history of the churches in the time of the apostles have been selected and recorded in the Book of the Acts in such a way as to provide a permanent pattern for the churches. Departures from the pattern has had disastrous consequences, and all revival and restoration have been due to some return to the pattern and principles of Scripture (The Pilgrim Church ,E.H.Broadbent)
A permanent pattern for the Church, set down in the Word of God, found in Acts and Corinthians in quite some detail, yet almost universally ignored down through the ages. And from Miletus he sent to Ephesus, and called the elders of the church ( Act 20:17) Now the word “elders,” and “presbyters,” and “overseers,” and “bishops,” all refer to the same men. It is Ignatius who starts the deviation. He as born around the year the Lord ascended into heaven. He died in 107ad. In less than 70 years we see the true birth of the clergy/laity divide, the great disaster as I call it. Now its roots had already begun to grow and around 85ad we see Diotrephes being described as “loving the preeminence.” It’s just like men to desperately want a hierarchical system and then climb the ladder to the top.
John, who excoriates Diotrephes In 3rd John, just a few years later writes Revelation. And of course the beginning chapters start out with grievious warnings from Jesus Himself to most of the churches in Asia. His first warning was that outside of repentance He would “remove your lamp-stand.” A lamp-stand holds the light. If it is removed then comes the darkness. Nothing grows in the darkness. There was various threats made against the churches by Jesus and God does not make idol threats. To the corrupted church at Thyatira Jesus says to her that if she did not repent of her sexual immorality that He would “cast her into a sickbed and those who commit adultery with her into great tribulation, unless they repent of their deeds. I will kill their children with death and all the churches will know that I am He who searches the minds and hearts.”
Lets face it brothers and sisters there are very few who can handle this Jesus. The Jesus who can strip away the lamp-stands of churches and leave nothing but the bare bones of religion. Without the light of Christ one is left only with a vain philosophy. Yet ambitious men can stand upon the bare bones of religion and elevate themselves above the others. While Jesus has no pleasure in institutions and denominations, men love them and men love numbers, they must have more. The more numbers, the more buildings, the more services the more one can boast in “their work.” In fact before the second century is out we come to another major deviation, infant baptism. What a great way to add to your numbers. No longer a believers baptism but an initiation ceremony that guarantees full and ever expanding buildings.
It all begins with men loving the preeminence. The desire to have authority over others. A self elevated position among the group. No longer would it be possible to invite men like John to “your,’ church, he would take the limelight away from the “clergy.” No longer would it be possible to worship in a 1 Cor 14 fashion where a plurality of peoples would be able to speak and share, this would take the limelight away from the ones who loved the preeminence. And so that old ancient curse that began with multiple churches refusing to repent even when Jesus Himself called them to it, still exists today and for the same reasons. How could these men repent of their un-biblical clery/laity divide? Admit they are wrong and always have been? They know it would end their “career,” their authority,” their standing in their community. They know they would just have to take their place with all the other brothers and sisters.
And so brothers and sisters, if there is to be a revolution among the Body of Christ the first thing to fall must be the clergy/laity divide. Only then could there truly be a return to the “old paths,’ to the Word of God and the pattern laid down. For clergy rely upon being clergy for their identity. It is who they are. They are keepers of the status quo and could never allow a 1 Cor 14 model to develop in their midst, because in a relatively short order, when order is reestablished and the Church leaders are but “elders,” and “presbyters,’ and “overseers,” then none are elevated above the other. If you have the courage, and it will take courage because of the negative reaction that will come against you, next Sunday, ask your “senior pastor,” ( a made up name) to justify to you from the Word, the clergy/laity divide. If he deems to answer your question, it should be very interesting. Please share any replies here for the saints to read.
1Th 1:5 For our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance.
The gospel did not come in word only, but in power and in the Holy Spirit and in much assurance. The Thessalonians encountered God in power and it changed them from the inside out. We see this in “your work of faith, labor of love and patience of hope.” (1 Thess1:3) Faith, hope and love. In 1st Cor 13 we read that we see through a glass darkly. Yet what abides in us is our faith which is our trust in God. And our blessed hope, no matter what valley we are walking through. Finally and most importantly is our love. We abide in the love of God and when we do, we love as God loves. And we know that the blessed source of all of that flows from the heart of God, the inexhaustible fountains of living water.
And all of this the Thessalonians received in the midst of great affliction. Faith, hope and love. All supernatural, all flowing from God. And one final element. They had the “joy of the Holy Spirit,” despite those many afflictions. What was the source of such joy in their hearts? They “knew God.” They knew He was real, they knew He was watching, they knew He was pleased. They had assurance of salvation. They knew in the depths of their hearts that God loved them and had forgiven them and was watching over them. Oh what an inexhaustible fountain of joy it is to “know,” that you are not only known by God the Father but are loved and forgiven by Him. Its this river, the river of life, the river of knowing, the river of faith and hope and love, that will take us home and keep us as we go.
In every stage of our lives there are seasons
And almost always we never know the reasons
We live, we love, we cherish, we lose
And the sudden losses leaves us with very little clues
We look to the sky and we wonder why
One of our loved ones they had to die
Yet for the most part there is no rhyme nor reason
There is just the changing of the season
In the hand of the Lord there lies it all
The creation of man and then the fall
Sin and rebellion and death floods in
And Eden vanishes and loss begins
There is a time to laugh and then to cry
A time to live and then to die
A time to gain and a time of loss
A time to refine away the dross
We are called to walk through fire and flood
And sometimes called to shed our blood
We are also called to laugh and sing
And fall to our knees before our King
No matter the loss there is always a reason
For the fire , the flood and the painful season
For the joy, for the laughter for the passion and pain
Know this dear saint, nothing is in vain
In Mark 11 Jesus speaks to His disciples and gives them precise instructions. They are to go into the village and as soon as they get there they will find a horse, a colt to be precise, tied up. Untie it and take it. Now, it was not that long ago in America that if you stole a horse you could be hung, it was a capital offense. Yet here was Jesus telling His disciples to just take it. I don’t know about you, but as someone who has dealt with lots of fears and anxiety over the years, and overthinking things, my mind would have been racing as I walked towards the village. “What if there is no horse there?” Now I would actually be hoping there would be no horse there, then I would not have to deal with it. I turn the corner and there is the horse. Ooh no, now I have to deal with it. Anxiousness and thoughts begin to assault my very soul like a swarm of angry bees intent on stinging me and doing the most harm that they could.
Of course its all a part of my unbelief. I don’t really trust God who has spoken to me. I am falling back on my flesh and my flesh is not my spirits friend in fact it is its sworn enemy. It counters the words of the Lord. It wants to rule over me and protect itself. It wars against my spirit and If I am not careful it will wear me down and make me sick. The flesh wont mind that, as long as its in charge. It would rather be dying than controlled. What my flesh does not know nor cares about is that the Lord has already spoken to the horse’s owner either in person or in a dream or a vision. The way of the Lord is already paved. We just have to walk down it and follow His instructions. Whose report will I believe? Will I walk according to what the Spirit says or will I walk according to what the flesh says? We know that in Romans 8 we are told that there is therefore now no condemnation to those who walk according to the Spirit and not according to the flesh.
Therefore we must know, we who have the Spirit of the Lord, that any condemnation, any doubts and any fears come not from the Lord but from the flesh, the domain of sin. We must pursue and keep our eyes upon Jesus and trust Him and trust His word and the work of the Holy Spirit in us. Torment is not from the Lord. Anxiety is not from the Lord. Fears in all its many forms are not from the Lord ( not talking about the fear of the Lord which is the beginning of wisdom) We have an enemy and it will lie to us. We have our Lord Jesus and He will never lie to us. Peace comes in knowing that. Peace comes in obedience. Peace comes when we reject what the flesh that is screaming in our ear and listen to the still small voice. The Word of God draws us near to the Lord. It points us towards the truth. Let us determine in our hearts to just take the horse already!
God finds us like the wild donkey, our nostrils wide and our eyes blazing and our ears laid back, hating the touch of leather, hating the touch and smell of people. The Holy Spirit comes, takes over, and starts, as we say on the farm, breaking the colt. After that the whole nature of the animal changes. He perks his ears up and whinnies when he sees you coming. His eyes are calm now. Lay your hand on his neck and he will lean over and nuzzle you. The Spirit of God wants to do that for you. He wants to domesticate you, humble you and make you meek. The Christian who has been transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit into a docile, obedient, meek, trustful person has more treasure than all the wealth of the world (A.W.Tozer)
Brother Tozer uses an analogy that most of the world would hate. I can hear the protests now (mainly because my own flesh raged against the process) “what do you mean, breaking the colt.” The truth is we are much worse that any horse or mule. We rage against the light because it brings us to heel if we indeed surrender to it. The horse is broken, yet we, unlike the horse, must first surrender to the process. And if we just had to do it once that might be ok. Yet just like everything else in the Scriptures that brings life it must be abided in. We must abide in His word daily. We must abide in the Holy Spirit daily. We must take up our cross daily. We must be filled over and over again. And so, just like that, we must surrender over and over again.
Brokenness is a process of surrenders. Stronghold by stronghold, high ground by high ground, well defended positions must fall. Jericho walls must come tumbling down and it wont be by might and it wont be by power, it will be by the Holy Spirit. We cannot cause the walls within us to fall, only Jesus by the power of the Holy Spirit can do that. We cannot form the cross that we take up daily, only Jesus by the power of the Spirit can do that. Just like it is not possible to strangle yourself, we could never create crosses strong enough to break us. The flesh would not allow it That is uniquely the work of the Spirit and every step of the way must be surrendered to it. We are called into the river, not up to our ankles nor our knees nor even our waists, we must be fully immersed in the river of life. We must surrender to the current. We cannot be standing on our own two feet.
You may believe that you are walking in the depths with Jesus. Yet ask yourself this saint. Are you still standing on your own two feet? Do you think you are doing good because the water comes up to your neck? In the final analysis you will be no better off than the fella that is only ankle deep. The real changes come when you are swept away by the river, everything else is religion and vanity and ashes in the wind. We have to come to the point where we are simply not in control, we are not in charge. The River, Jesus, the Holy Spirit is. He can only take you to where He wants you to go when you are fully surrendered. And now, just like the broken horse, we fall deeply in love with our Master and long to see His coming. We nestle into His loving arms and when the storms rage all around us, we see Him and we know we are safe. Will you surrender to the river today?
You are our majesty, this and so much more
You are our bright and morning star, to us an open door
An open door to glory that leads us to your throne
So as we walk this lonely road we are never quite alone
You are our refuge from the storm,
A shade from the searing heat
And if the world had spiritual eyes
They would see us at your feet
For we have been forgiven much
So we love you all the more
You to us who are our King
Forever an open door
Let us step into Your glory
For you are high and lifted up
And in this place of glory
No man can interrupt.
No matter the darkness the light prevails
Just as we saw in the thorns and the nails
Victory in Jesus as the darkness drew near
Victory over hell and death and fear
The world may languish and be spiraling down
Yet victory belongs to the one with the crown
Glory and majesty with the dawns early light
Filled with His strength and ready to fight
The proud shall fall never more to rise
His glory shall be revealed in magnificent skies
The sun shall flee and the moon disgraced
The stars in the heavens are violently displaced
The King of kings, the Lord of all ages
Steps down once more as the devil rages
The victory is complete, the darkness no more
The ravenous lion has given his last roar
Mat 6:34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
Due to my still healing hip, my wife helped me this weekend with painting the deck. It occurred to me in the process that there are two broad categories of people. There are those who only believe that there is a job to be finished. And there are those who believe there is a job to be done. It may seem that these two statements represent the same thing, but they do not. Oswald Chambers writes “The test that Jesus gives us is not the truth of our manner, but the temper of our mind. Many of us are wonderfully truthful in manner yet our temper of mind is rotten in God’s sight.The thing Jesus alters is the temper of the mind.” Lets say you sin against someone and you know that you must ask forgiveness from that person. You believe you have to finish the job. The purpose is to do what you know you have to do, And you do it. Yet, your heart in the matter was not changed, you merely did what you knew you had to do. It is very likely that you will sin again against this person and others. This is the flesh. It is not altogether different from Catholic confession.
The Lord did not come to teach us how to live with good manners, He came to change our very hearts and minds. By the power of the Holy Spirit, and only by the power of the Holy Spirit, can we live out the changed life. The changed life is not doing things right, doing things right is the consequence of a changed life. We live our lives not in order to achieve something, to get the job finished, no, we live our lives as unto the Lord, daily. The job to be done is to follow the Lord. We are the project. There is no finish line so to speak, there is only being rightly shaped. Now does that mean we cannot have an eternal perspective, not at all, we must have an eternal perspective, but eternity must be lived out daily in our lives and this should be our perspective. Doing the job for the jobs sake is very different from doing the job just to get it finished. It’s a subtle twist that can change the very nature of how we live. Living in the moment is living in eternity. The job is still going to get finished yet getting to heaven is the furthest thing from the saints mind because getting to heaven is not and end in and of itself, its just the outcome of the work of the Lord and those who take up their crosses daily and follow Him.
1Sa 27:1 And David said in his heart, I shall now perish one day by the hand of Saul: there is nothing better for me than that I should speedily escape into the land of the Philistines; and Saul shall despair of me, to seek me any more in any coast of Israel: so shall I escape out of his hand.
Let’s be very honest here, David is just wrong. We have the advantage of time on our side to look back and know that he is wrong. He would not perish by the hand of Saul. David said in his heart or to his heart that he was going to die. How many of us have come to the wrong conclusions based on how we feel? Our emotions begin to drive us, like a mighty wind drives a sailing ship in a storm onto the rocks. Fear is the low depression that builds in the atmosphere. Low depressions in the natural lead to storms and high winds. When we speak to ourselves and not to God we convince ourselves of a bad outcome, or perhaps even a good outcome, but rash actions based on unhinged emotions leads to storms and failures.
David knew that he was anointed. David knew that God had delivered him time and time again. David let exhaustion and depression and fear lead him. He came to the wrong conclusions. In John chapter 6 the disciples went down to the sea. Jesus was nowhere to be found. Yet these fishermen knew that the light was fading fast and decided to head of into the open sea where they would find themselves in the darkness, and now, of course, a storm blows up. When we head into anything without Jesus, when we are led by our state, whether physical or emotional, we are heading towards a storm. Much better to wait where we are, on the Lord and pray. David would have better off to stay where he was. This anointed man of God was not going to die, that was a lie he told to himself undoubtedly embellished by the enemy of his soul.
Where are you right now saint? Are you ready to rush of into something? Is that something motivated by God? Have you heard from the Lord? Are you keeping in step with the Spirit, meaning, is He walking with you in this? The disciples should never have left the shore, David should not have tried to escape. David would find himself in Ziklag. This town will not be remembered well by David. This is the place where he lost everything and he cried “until there were no tears left to cry.” Yes, the Lord came to him in the storm so to speak, yes he took back all that was stolen by the power of the Spirit of God. How much better to have never found himself in that position in the first place? Wait upon the Lord brothers and sisters, lest you find yourself in urgent need of rescue. Move when you are told to move. Silence the voice of fear that urges you to act right now. Just because others have went a certain way, does not mean that you should follow. Follow the Lord and His word rather, and the still small voice. Following your heart is the way of the world.
I will shake the heavens and the earth shall move out of its place
For fear shall fall upon the world as they begin to see my face
Wail O inhabitants of the earth for the day is soon at hand
You will see my unfolding judgment and know that it was planned.
The sanctified ones who greatly rejoiced in my exaltation
Shall march across the earth, there will be trembling in every nation
Behold the day of the Lord comes, the end of all the ages
And sin shall be no more as it collects its final wages.
And when its said and done joy shall come in the morning
Peace and love and joy shall replace tears and fears and mourning
Prepare your hearts O saints for the day of the Lord is at hand
And only the righteous, covered by His Blood, shall stand
A banner is set on high for all the world to see
It flutters in the wind above the ones that He set free
An army of Gods righteous saints, there they stand as one
And at the head of this mighty army rides the only begotten Son.
Joh 12:32 If I be lifted up from the earth, I will draw all men unto me.
Jesus came to earth to fulfill the will of His Father in heaven. His Father asked Him to be a Living Sacrifice. He was sent down like bread from heaven to bring life to the world. To be the Light that shines into the darkness of a world already condemned. All men could see the light and all men knew what that Light meant. It was brighter than any lighthouse standing high upon a hill. And it shone out to mankind who was caught up in a storm of gross darkness. The Life came down from heaven so that it would be as a light shining in the darkness of death. Love sent the light to those who had no light. While they were yet in their sins. The great love of the Father for a world caught up in darkness. While they were yet in their sins life came to the dead. To the crushed and the broken-hearted the light shone for them and drew them and they were healed.
To the captives the light shone into the very depths of the deepest dungeons and they came forth delivered and free. Who will come to the light? The proud? The haughty? The self made man? The strong? No, they shall run from the light. You cannot run from what you cannot see. The world saw that light and the life that came down from heaven. Most ran from it, most still run from it. The few are drawn to it. Let it never be said that God did not desire to draw all men to Himself, He did. There is nothing beyond Jesus. What more could God give? He gave His all in the greatest sacrifice ever made. There is no sacrifice beyond this. All men are drawn by the light, but you have to come to the light and believe, in order to be saved. Jesus is the light, and in Him alone is life, and in Him there is no darkness.
The phrase “If I be lifted up,” signifies what kind of death the Lord would have. Yet the Greek word for the phrase also means “to be exalted,” If the Lord Jesus Christ is exalted above all things then the power of Calvary and His resurrection flows into the life of those who exalt Him. There is power in the exaltation of Jesus. There is light in the exaltation of Jesus. There is life in the exaltation of Jesus. There is healing in His exaltation. There is love and mercy to be found as we exalt the name of Jesus. There is forgiveness in the exaltation of Jesus. There is salvation in the exaltation of Jesus! Let us exalt that name today, Jesus, which is above every name. That at the exaltation of that name every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord to the glory of God the Father. For there is no other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved, neither is there salvation in any other. Jesus is the first and the last and He is the light which, when He was lifted up, drew all men unto Him. What will you do with the drawing?
Thank you for inexhaustible fountains That flow down from the highest mountains Higher still and then again We find the source of the falling rain
Living waters whose source is the King By their refreshing we hear angels sing Sing to the Lord for He has done excellent things Cry out ye saints for He is greatly to be praised
Deep in unfathomable mines there is treasure And at His right hand forevermore there is pleasure Refreshed by the waters that flow down on me They carry me onward towards an eternal sea
We shall draw water from the wells of salvation Upon the Rock we shall stand, our eternal foundation We shall raise our sails high and be carried along By the breath of the Spirit and a heavenly song.
Those who hear His still small voice Lie down in the night in peace and rejoice Even in the midst of the midnight hour There is glory in His praises and with them brings power
He leads us beside the eternal still waters into lush green pastures He has surely brought us Goodness and mercy follow all the days of our lives To a banqueting table we can barely describe.
His table to us is His manifest presence By the Spirit of God we speak with great eloquence Words that flow from the Kingdom within From the beauty of Holiness that lies therein
Evergreen trees give their fruit in all seasons There are a million ways to praise Him and a million reasons To rise up and with the morning sun and cry holy To walk in humility, to be contrite and lowly
He has planted us beside His holy river He has established us in His heart forever And forever and a day and forever it shall be be For into our very hearts He has placed eternity.
1Sa 20:31 For as long as the son of Jesse lives on the earth, you shall not be established, nor your kingdom. Wherefore now send and fetch him unto me, for he shall surely die.
We see here a complicated truth. What Saul says to Jonathan is actually true. Unless David dies, the kingdom of men, the kingdom of Saul, the future kingdom of Jonathan can never be truly established. There is enmity between what man wants and what God wants. They are diametrically opposed to one another. Jonathan sought to persuade his father on behalf of his beloved friend and it results in Saul now trying to kill his own son with a spear. The same spear, the same javelin, the same anger, the same rage that was all directed towards David, in a mere moment, was directed towards his own son. In the end it was never about David or Jonathan or even a kingdom, it was all about Saul. He cared more deeply about what people thought about him than he did about any other thing. Its the kingdom of self and many many men have destroyed everything around them in their worship of their own self destructive flesh.
Why is the cross so important? Why does it lie at the center of our faith? The reason? It is the one and only weapon that can take the flesh down. Jesus conquered the flesh on a cross. Jesus told His disciples that in order to follow Him, in order to be worthy of being His disciple, they must take up their cross daily. The battle against the flesh rages on. Its only means of death is a cross. Not a spear, not a javelin and not the weapons of this world. Our fight is against the flesh that raged within Saul. And on every occasion there is a lurking enemy ready to back up your flesh with very deliberate persuasive arguments as to why your flesh is correct. The sermon on the mount is the sword of God relentlessly and without mercy exposing and dispatching the real enemy. It slashes away at self preservation. It runs though self determination. It cuts asunder self promotion. It turns on its head self-ishness. All of this is useless to the man or woman who has not been born again. The dead man must be put in his grave and up from it must rise the man who is born again. Only he can walk the walk of the sermon on the mount.
Jesus says to Pilate “My kingdom is not of this world.” The kingdom of God is not established by men but rather it is established in the hearts of His saints. The Kingdom of God exists collectively and individually within us. There are forces that forever are trying to invade the Kingdom. They know what Saul knew. While there is a single “David,” that exists on the earth then the kingdom of men, the kingdom of darkness can never be established. And the tactic of the enemy has not, nor will it, change. It must eliminate the saints. It will not even be good enough to neutralize them from society and chase them into the wilderness. It will come looking for us in the wilderness. And it will look, for a time, times and a half a time to completely eradicate us. 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 (Rev 13:7 ) Yet, we know, that the forces of darkness will fail. And just like Saul, the forces of darkness know it too. For the victory was already won on a day, 2000 years ago when Jesus announced “It is finished.”
And it came to pass on the morrow, that the evil spirit from God came upon Saul, and he prophesied in the midst of the house: and David played with his hand, as at other times: and there was a javelin in Saul’s hand. And Saul cast the javelin; for he said, I will smite David even to the wall with it. (1Sa 18:10-11)
Jealousy and envy lie at the heart of many a murder or a murderous spirit. Once it is given in to then they are given over to a spirit far worse. Murder rises from the darkness of our hearts and meets a spirit willing and able to take us down roads we would normally never go down. It becomes cold and calculating quite apart from the heat of passion. Saul knows fine well he is going to murder David and he sets about lulling him into a fall sense of security by “prophesying,” out of his distress. He is speaking, not on behalf of God but rather he is speaking from a place of jealous rage. It is so well controlled and so religious in nature that David takes up his lyre and begins to worship God having no idea what lurks in the heart of his his king. Then Saul, with all of his might mind you, with everything that is in him, unleashes the javelin in an attempt to not just injure him, but to run him through and pin David to the wall.
This spirit has manifested itself down through the ages. Jealousy and insecurity has been its primary motivator. How the Pharisees must have bristled by the multitude that followed after Jesus and would make Him their king. Murder rises in their hearts while all the time portraying themselves as men of God. And in every century since Jesus arose, religious men, men, jealous of those who actually know Jesus, who actually have a relationship with God, who actually enter into worship with Him, plot their downfall. Hangings, stonings, dismemberment, torture and vicious treatment all in the name of God, all flowing from the distress in their hearts when they encounter a man or a woman who actually know God. Even today we see the same spirit at work. The once born man becomes the all out enemy of the twice born man and often times all done under the same roof and under the name of God.
David’s attitude towards his primary enemy is outstanding. Jesus’ love for His enemies is the reason we now live. He forgave the ones who cruelly and with malice aforethought designed His downfall. Stephen cries out the same message while he is in the midst of being stoned to death. It breaks the chains of hell. One of the audience that very day at the stoning of Stephen would go on and write two thirds of the New Testament. And all down through the following 2000 years, men and women of God would face the same enemies with the same spirit and they would follow the dictates of the most High God. They would speak the truth in love. They would never relent, never capitulate yet never render hatred for hatred. They would stand strong in the worship of God and that worship would be first measured by their lives. Let us stand strong brothers and sisters in a day and age where tolerance is worshiped as a virtue but never actually lived out. Our enemies design is to pin us to the wall and do it all in the name of something that sounds very religious, tolerance. We know better, therefore we are to be as wise as serpents and as harmless as doves.
Fire from heaven rain down upon me now
Open the eyes of our hearts that might see and bow
Go forth before me Lord with your fire and you're rain
Burning all the dross and breaking every chain.
By your presence let all the mountains tremble
And rain down glory from above, from your eternal temple
Let the skies break forth that they may split asunder
When the lightening flashes and the earth shakes with thunder
The clouds are His chariots and He walks upon the wind
He broke the chains of hell and death and delivers those who sinned
His glory endures forever and He fractures the sky above
As the whole earth is filled with His eternal love.
He is our shelter from the storm, our precious strong high tower
He has filled us with His love and His everlasting power
Though worlds may fall to pieces and begin to crumble
We follow Him who walked before, and never did He stumble.
Take hold of His precious truth in a world that's full of lies
Raise your hands and lift them up, lift them up unto the skies
Look up and testify that our Redeemer lives
And that His mercy is still flowing and He surely still forgives
Mat 5:13 Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.
This is a very well known passage from the sermon on the mount. Upon reading it in my study from Matt 5 something occurred to me that made me think about it in a different light. I looked up the meaning of the phrase ” have lost its flavor.” in the Greek, it is “moraino.” It means to become insipid. So I looked up the definition of the word insipid. It is “without distinctive, interesting or stimulating qualities. Without sufficient taste to be pleasing as food or drink, bland.” For most of my Christian life I have heard men preach on this in regard to preservation. How salt preserves food. Yet the word is clearly flavor. I would imagine that almost every household in America has salt in it. We use it, not to preserve anything but to flavor it. If it did not flavor it then we would not buy it, what good would it be?
Have we, Christians, become “insipid.” Are we “without distinction,” in the world? Have we ceased to stimulate society but rather do we strive to simply blend in? For much of Christendoms it is almost entirely impossible to tell us apart from the world. If that is indeed the case then what are we good for? Are we not called to be distinct? A people clearly called out from the world? A people that would, by our lives and by our words, stimulate and convict and interest the people around us with our Godlike qualities? The definition of the phrase “have lost its flavor,” goes on ………From G3474; to become insipid; figuratively to make (passively act) as a simpleton: – become fool, make foolish, lose savour. And the word G347 is “moros.” Here is the definition of that word is …..”dull or stupid, absurd or foolish.” In a world of foolishness, foolishness meaning that they have rejected God, are we any good to anyone if we simply just blend in with the world? Are we then “good for nothing,” have we also become like fools?
In the context of this scripture salt has a purpose as does light. We are salt and light. Light brings illumination to darkness, but if we cover up the light that is in us, then what purposes do we have? Light is likened to a city set upon a hill. A lamp that is put on a lamp-stand that lights the whole room. If it is covered up then what purpose do we serve? We have been called to let our lights so shine before men that they may see the works of God in us. We have been called to be salt in every situation we find ourselves in, family, neighbors, workplace. We should stimulate people by our words and by our deeds. We should be clearly distinct in a world that is more and more walking in lockstep, allowing for no distinction. And our distinction should be in no way contrived. I’m not talking about wearing a cross, I’m talking about changing the very atmosphere around us by the power of the light that dwells in us. Do you change the atmosphere that surrounds you or are you simply swallowed up by it?
In the last days the prophets of old still speak to us. None more so than the prophet Isaiah. The prophetic word of God echos down through the ages. It spoke to its first audience and it has continued to speak down through the corridors of time. God has always had a remnant in the land and in these last days they still remain. They have ears to hear what the Spirit says. God is still instructing His sons and daughters through the prophetic word from thousands of years ago. In Ecclesiastes we are told that “to everything there is a season.” We are further told that “He has put eternity in their hearts.”
The Lord our God is doing a work in this, the last season and He is calling out to His remnant saints, the ones who have eternity in their hearts, to come forth from the world and stand. Isaiah stepped forth and cried out with a loud voice “send me.” He took the prophetic words from God to a sinful Judah who were surrounded by sinful nations. Today there exists a sinful Christianity which is surrounded by a fallen world. Shall you stand? Can you hear? Can you see the fallen world and the state of the church? In Christ alone there is truth and we stand upon His word which never changes.
This book journey’s through many of the chapters of Isaiah that stood out to me. The Lord spoke to my spirit and I put pen to paper. As the world grows ever darker and shakes it angry fist, the prophetic word of God becomes all the more vital. What is God saying to His remnant saints? What is He saying to those who refuse to bow the knee to the gods of this world?
A Call To The Remnant 