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.
So much of the mega church and movements like Hillsong are almost exclusively based on emotions. This is where the danger lies when your music ministry is the heart and soul of your church or movement. Young people especially are swept up in a tide of feelings, their foundations of why they worship, based on how they feel.
Worshiping God begins and ends at the cross. We worship a God who died for us, who shed His blood for us. The love we discovered at the cross is all consuming. It is life and death. It transcends feelings, it is so much deeper than that. It hurtles past the outer limits of our soul and penetrates into the depths of our spirits.
Our love for our Lord is based on the firm foundation that He first loved us and that He died for us! When that is the basis of your salvation then you shall not be easily shaken. God Himself will be your life and wild horses shall not drag you out of His hand. He is your reason for living, He is the very air that you breath, He is your very sanity, In short, you know you exist solely because of Him.
There are no grandchildren in the Kingdom of God only sons and daughters. Beware everyone of you that was raised in a Christian household and raised up in a church. Shine a spotlight on your faith and examine yourself to see whether indeed you “know,” Jesus. See whether indeed you are a son or a daughter of the Kingdom. Do you love the God of all creation above all things? Does He rule and reign in your heart or does He merely exist in your head? Eternity rises or falls based on these questions.
If you are merely a grandchild you cannot stand, you will fall. You may have walked an aisle when you were four or five and have been told all of your life that you are a Christian, but the cross will tell the story. Unless the cross has penetrated and transformed your spirit, you dwell in the dim recesses of your soul. A place where shades of gray dominate. To dwell there is to have become accustomed to the darkness and perceive it to be light. The eyes are very clever and soon master the grey dimness. Yet, if you were to walk out of the dimness, out of the shades of grey and into His marvelous light you would fall back and scream as the light tears through your eyes and explodes into your heart and mind and soul and spirit.
The cross tears away a mans soul. It penetrates every part of him, nothing is left un-examined, nothing is ever the same. Now this new creature takes up his cross, in the shadow of Calvary, “knowing,’ not in the head, but in the deepest recesses of his heart, that His lord suffered more than he ever could and it is an enormous privilege to follow in His footsteps. This is salvation.
Isa 49:11 And I will make all my mountains a road, and my highways shall be elevated
The Lord says that He shall feed His sheep along the roads. And even in “desolate heights,” they shall find pastures where no pastures should exist. The King of kings who owns the cattle on a thousand hills and the hills beneath their feet is well able to do as He says. He will feed your hungry soul. He will water your parched spirit as you navigate your way home. Do you hear His promises saints? He is speaking to you. No matter how tough your journey has been or is, even as you read this, He will make the treacherous mountain passes to be like a highway, a highway of Holiness. As you lift Him up, as you exalt the Lord in an ever darkening world the light of Heaven shall shine down upon you, even the darkness will be light to you, glory to God. You are inscribed on the palms of His hand. He knows you by name.
Th remnant saints of God are being gathered together for the final journey home, for the end of the ages are upon us. And despite being surrounded by a hostile world our Lord Himself goes before us. 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. Sing O heavens! Be joyful, O earth and break out in singing O mountains for the Lord has comforted His people and will have mercy upon His afflicted. ( Isa 49:13) We may have troubles on every side, but by the power of God we are not distressed. We may be perplexed but we are not in despair.The world may persecute us and despise us but they cannot destroy the Spirit of God that burns fiercely in the depths of who we truly are.
Isa 45:3 And I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places,
This scripture speaks of Cyrus, who would conquer Babylon. Cyrus, it is said, was an outcast, left abandoned by his mother as a child and saved by a herdsman’s wife. From an outcast he would rise by the power of God and one day take Babylon. Consider Babylon. There are estimates that its walls were anywhere between one hundred and fifty to two hundred and twenty five feet tall and between forty five and seventy five feet thick. Six chariots abreast could race along the tops of its walls. Its radius was estimated to be somewhere in the region of forty five mile which is the equivalent of modern day London. Imagine the whole of London ringed by such walls? And the Lord had raised up an outcast that would one day take this city and free the Jewish people. God would open before him gates that would not be shut. He would make the crooked places straight and break in pieces gates of bronze and bars of iron. He would give him the treasures of darkness and hidden riches of secret places.
God is in the business of raising up outcasts and those who have been abandoned. To those who find Him He makes straight their paths. He gives us the power to overcome every obstacle. There are no doors that He cannot open. There are no mountains too high that He cannot help us climb. No waters to deep that we cannot navigate by the power of His strength. He gives us the treasures of darkness. The riches that are to be found in the depths of our calamities and in the presence of our enemies. He takes the ashes of our broken lives and the hidden places of our hearts and makes beauty from them. We who were poor and outcast and abandoned He has made rich and whole by His presence. He has transformed us and He uses us to share the glory of God to the captives that they may be set free. To the crushed and broken hearted that they may be made whole. Rain down you heavens from above and let the sky pour down righteousness. Let the earth open, let them bring forth salvation. And let righteousness spring up together for I the Lord have created it. (Isa 45:8)
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 43:18-19) Do not remember the former things, neither consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall you not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.
The past flows away like a mighty river that rushes onto the sea. Yet the river keeps on flowing. No matter where we go the river keeps on flowing. Even in the wilderness the river flows. Even in the desert the river flows. In the midst of all of your trials and difficult circumstances, still the river flows. It flows in one direction, it flows out from and back to the Father’s hearts. Follow the river brothers and sisters. We can think back about all the mighty things the Lord has done for us. We can remember our salvation, our deliverance from this world with great joy. We can think about how He changed us, how He molded us, how He led us and guided us and how marvelous are these memories. Yet God Almighty is the God of now and what is to come.
He did not just promise to deliver you from your past, He promised to deliver you home. We cannot camp out or put down roots in the past, we are a traveling people. We are pilgrims and sojourners traveling through this world. The mercies of our past only points us to a God who delivers everyday. The cloud that goes before us is still there and it is leading us home. It keeps us from the noonday sun and leads us. The fire by night burns bright still, and still it burns, and will continue to burn with ever greater intensity the closer we get to home. Look up you saints who have been on the road awhile and see the greater glory of your God. You now know just how faithful He is even when you were not. You know that all of His promises have been yes and amen. And as we journey home our spirits begin to catch glimpses of a place that no eye has seen. An eternal home so otherworldly that our hearts have not even contemplated such a place. Our spirits quicken as we approach, the outer-man may be perishing, but the spirit swells in anticipation of the ultimate new thing. Glory to God, draw us home.
These hand of mine Father, so many times, in any number of situations, I’ve wanted to throw them up in the air in despair, or wash my hands of something completely, or use them to literally beat someone. Yet you Lord, have called me to raise my hands up, not in despair or anger but in surrender. For most of my life I never knew what that looked like, this “letting go.” Father, help my lack of surrender, show me always what that looks like in every situation that I may always walk in Your peace. Surrender, to the world, is defeat. Surrender to you Lord is victory. My hearts desire Lord is to always walk in the shadow of Your victory.
Isa 43:2 When thou pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow you: when you walk through the fire, you shalt not be burned; nor shall the flame scorch you.
What a remarkable Scripture. In the previous chapter we learned of the stubbornness of Israel and their obstinate disobedience. And yet here, this chapter opens up with “Fear not for I have redeemed you, I have called you by your name, you are mine.” Glory to God, He is a redeemer. He has redeemed us brothers and sisters, while we were yet in our sin. If His love for us was so great while we were yet in our sin, how much greater His love now that we are sons and daughters? He will be with us through ever difficult trials. He will be with us when troubles surround us. Though we pass through the fire, the flames shall not scorch us and when we cross mighty rivers we shall not be overwhelmed and swept away. How many times have you felt overwhelmed and it seems certain you shall be swept away? And then we find that the anchor of our soul holds us fast and leads us through the waters.
He says to those who are called by His name “fear not,” for He has created us for His own glory’s sake. He formed us and He made us and called us by His name and says of us “you are My witnesses,” of whom I have chosen.” You are His redeemed people brothers and sisters, do not lose sight of that. Walking according to the Spirit is believing everything God says about you. Walking in that truth and letting that truth take a hold of you, letting that truth consume you, letting that truth take you in its current is walking on the highway of holiness. The “atmosphere ” around you shall reflect the Spirit of God inside of you. A witness to the Lord’s reality. God says to us ” Therefore you are My witnesses ……Indeed, before the day was, I am He; and there is no one who can deliver out of my hand, I work and who shall reverse it?” Amen! Do not let the fires of your trials overwhelm your mind, instead consider the God that you serve. Do not let the waters of your circumstances sweep you away, stand, rather, in the power of His might and in the palm of His hand and in the beauty of His holiness.
Isa 42:10 Sing unto the LORD a new song, and his praise from the end of the earth, ye that go down to the sea, and all that is therein; the isles, and the inhabitants thereof.
Who shall we sing unto? Shall we not sing unto the Lord of Hosts? To the one who created and stretches out all of the heavens. He spreads forth the earth and and gives breath to the people on it. He calls us to righteousness and gives us His Spirit. He has called us as a Covenant people. He has created us to be a light unto the world. We are to speak to those who are blind and watch the scales fall from their eyes. We are to call out to the lame and the broken that they may be whole again. To the dead we cry out “come forth,” and the dead of this world are reborn. He has given us His glory and He gives it to no other. The glory of Christ rests upon His people, we dwell in it. The former things have come to pass and behold all things are new. We sing a new song unto the God of Glory.
God’s people have been called to shout His glory from the rooftops. From the mountaintops. From the valleys and the coast-lands. Praise Him in the morning for His goodness. Praise Him in the noonday for His marvelous grace. Praise Him in the midst of the setting sun for His magnificent love. Praise Him in the night-watches for His great faithfulness. Praise Him when the sun rises again for His mercy never ends. There is so much strength in the praises of His people. He inhabits them just as He inhabits us. When the praises of God rises up like a phoenix form the ashes of our circumstances then beauty comes forth like the noonday sun. The beauty of His holiness is magnified in the praises of His people. Obedient people. In order to serve the Lord most High and be a demonstration of His magnificence on the earth, we must be an obedient people.
This obedience is our demonstration to a sick and dying world that there is a pathway to this God that we praise. As each man and woman of the world do that which is right in their own eyes, it merely promotes gross darkness. Our obedience to the Lord is the antidote to the darkness of the world. If the blind are to see through the darkness, that darkness must be illuminated by God’s obedient servants. The new song that we sing is the song of the humble servant who has fallen in love with His Master. This love is the fountainhead of all obedience. Bond-servants who shall sing unto the ends of the earth of the One that they love. Of the One who died for them. Of the One they gladly gave up their own lives for. Sing it today brothers and sisters, Sing it loud. The world we live in boasts loudly in the pride they have for their lifestyles, let us, who actually have something to boast about boast about it louder. Shout it from the rooftops, shout glory to God, glory to God in the highest. Let the world hear our new song, the song of our very lives which marches to every beat of our brand new hearts.
Isa 41:9 I have chosen you, and not cast you away.
The Lord our God has a chosen people, a Holy generation. We are His royal priesthood and He has not cast us away. He says in the next verse that we are to “fear not for I am with you, be not dismayed for I am your God, I will strengthen you, yes I will help you and I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” He will give us strength when all around the world there is growing hostility towards His people. He knows this, He sees this. He sees you, He knows you and He will help you and He will certainly uphold you by the strength of His righteous right arm. If He is for you saint, then what shall become of him who is against you? If His thoughts towards you are more numerous than the sands of the seashore, then why should you be afraid? These are promises from the Living God and they shall never be broken.
His promise to us is “I will open rivers in the desolate heights and fountains in the depths of the valleys. I will make the wilderness a pool of water and the dry land springs of water.” (Isa 41:18)There are no conditions brothers and sisters where our Lord’s arm is short in helping His sons and daughters. Even in the desolate heights there shall appear living waters that flow in a pure river as clear as crystal from the throne of God and from the Lamb. Even in the depths of the deepest valley, surrounded by the darkness and hostility of a world that hates God, there shall be a fountain, an inexhaustible fountain of Living water drawn from the river of life that flows from the desolate heights. These waters are the waters of joy and gladness, peace and strength and the very love of God. They sustain us and empower us and give us the strength to carry on. These desolate heights and deep deep valleys are the barren landscapes of a world without God. We are life in the desert that amazes the creatures of such places. A witness to a dying world that life exists and not only life, but an abundance of life where once was only sand and dry bones.
If the gentile observers shall follow the source of this life then it shall lead them to God. If those who dwell in such great darkness see light where there should be no light then it shall draw them like a moth to a flame. What is this source of life they will ask and from where comes this light that shines out like a beacon among the barren places? We have the answer, for we once dwelt in the same darkness. We were once without such living water and now we rise from the desolate heights. We rise up from the valleys. We rise up in the updrafts of His presence. The incense of our prayers rises up and takes us before the throne where all life flows from. Rise up today brothers and sisters in the strength of our Lord. He has chosen you and not cast you away. He is you strength to carry on. He is your life where once was only death. He is your Living water and you shall never thirst again. He is your very sanity in a world gone mad. He is your peace that surpasses all understanding in a world where there is no peace. He is all these things and He is so much more and He loves you in a thousand ways that you can barely imagine. Go forth today in the strength of such knowledge and in the manifest presence of God.
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 35:2………………they shall see the glory of the LORD, and the excellency of our God.
All the world without Christ is but a fruitless wilderness. A barren soulless desert in which nothing blooms. A dead place, a place without living water, a place only of the dying. I would argue that the world we live in is a soulless barren place. A place given over to sin and death and destruction. A world that has “crossed the Rubicon,” and been given over to a reprobate mind. A world not unlike the times of Noah where “God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.”(Gen 6:5) And yet, within this dead and dying world there exists the Kingdom of God in the hearts of the saints.
Even when we are surrounded by such a barren desert of wickedness, God has strengthened the weak hands and made firm the feeble knees. He says to His people who may be fearful of heart at what they see “be strong, do not fear, behold your God will come with vengeance with the recompense of God, He will come and save you.” (Isa 35:4) Brothers and sisters, He has given us the strength to survive in this wicked desert world. He promised us that the waters shall burst forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert. The parched ground shall become a pool and the thirsty land springs of water. A highway shall be there and a road and it shall be called the Highway of Holiness. This is where you shall find the redeemed of the Lord as they make their way to Zion with everlasting joy.
Saints, we are traveling on this Highway of Holiness that traverses the desert places. We are as a pool of water to the thirsty. We are streams in the desert. Living waters flow through us from heaven above. We not only survive but live an abundant spiritual life where no life should be. We have joy where there should be no joy. We have peace when all around us have lost their minds. We are marching to Zion and there is a joy that dwells within us that is perpetually filled from the inexhaustible wells of salvation. The world shall see the glory of the Lord and the excellency of our God as we march along, in lockstep with one another, the Highway of Holiness, the narrow road that leads us home. Take strength brothers and sisters, the Lord is at the door, we are almost home. In His strength alone we shall endure and overcome.
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.
Isa 30:20 And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity, and the water of affliction.
Who is the Lord talking to and what is this bread and water? In verse 17 we see a winnowing, a falling away of what is not of God and what are we left with? A remnant left as a beacon upon a mountain and a banner upon a hill. There is one thing about a beacon that shines out from a mountain, everyone can see it. God will be very gracious to those who are left when all others have fled. Don’t we see that now in Christendom? Have the majority not fled to the world? Those who “wept for Jerusalem,” are the ones who are left. We see this in verse 19, the Lord Himself will gather up our tears. In Ezekiel chapter nine we read that the Lord says “And the LORD said unto him, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof.”
The remnant saints who bear the mark of God, are the beacons upon a mountain. We are God’s banner and it must be flown high above the battle-field, above the world. And even though the Lord gives us the bread of adversity and the waters of affliction, we shall flourish in the midst of it all. Adversity and afflictions are our teachers. Teachers have authority. We yield to God in the midst of them all for it is He that has given us these teachers for His own purposes. Do not think it a strange thing brothers and sisters that we must learn in this fashion. God scourges those He loves, does He not? It is our reaction to such scourgings that separate us as sons and daughters from the pretenders. If you endure chastening, God deals with you as sons; for what son is he whom the father does not chasten? But if you are without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons (Heb 12:7-8)
Brothers and sisters. In the end days that are ravaged by spiritual famine and drought, God has made provision. The waters that pours forth from our afflictions is the very thing that waters the seed. And this seed leads to the increase of bread throughout the land. “Then shall he give the rain of thy seed, that thou shalt sow the ground withal; and bread of the increase of the earth, and it shall be fat and plenteous: in that day shall thy cattle feed in large pastures.” (Isa 30:23) Saints, we, who are sons and daughters of the King, are water to the thirst and bread to the hungry. All of this comes from our teachers, adversity and affliction. Are you suffering adversity, are you afflicted? Yield in the midst of the darkness of these teachers and see the light that shall forth. The whole world shall see the light that shines forth from God’s sons and daughters. The Lord will cause His glorious voice to heard.
A Call To The Remnant 