IN Matthew 3 the Scriptures identifies John the Baptist as the one crying in the wilderness from Isa 40:3 The voice of him who cries in the wilderness, Prepare the way of Jehovah, make straight a highway in the desert for our God.
I this passage Isaiah is first of all speaking to those who dwelt in exile in Babylon. The message was to them and more specifically to those who would return to the heart of God and leave the world behind. The vast majority of exiles did not return to Jerusalem when they were free to but chose instead to continue to live in exile in a place where they had grown comfortable.
Decades before they had been taken captive by the Babylonians at the hand of God in judgement. Now, when their opportunity came to leave, by staying they were proving that their hearts had been taken captive by the Babylonian system and way of life. God’s judgment always brings to light the true state of the heart. The very fact that they chose to stay, highlighted why they had been allowed to be taken captive in the first place. Men so often praise the Lord with their lips but their hearts belong to another.
Now Isaiah is speaking prophetically i this passage not only of the exiles but also of John the Baptist. Mat 3:3 For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, saying, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord, make His paths straight.” Now John has also been called to speak to a people in exile. A people who have been cut off from God despite the fact that they were not in physical exile from Jerusalem and the temple but were in exile from the presence of God. The very system and temple that had been designed to worship God and be a dwelling place, a place for God to inhabit, had become devoid of His presence. This was a judgement to bring to light the true state of the heart.
Below is a word from a dear sister in Christ…………….
Has anyone else experienced a terrible onslaught from the enemy lately, even over the past 4 years or more? It has been very difficult for my husband and I. sometimes it seems like we are going backwards and not forwards anymore, this is quite alarming. Yet when I am feeling despair about the situations we are in, the Lord shows us that He is actually working out refinement, pruning and forming the Character of Christ in us. We were quite surprised to find out that it was through trials and testings that the character of Christ is formed.
I remember recently in prayer I said, “Lord I come to buy gold refined by the fire!” and I clearly heard His reply, “Are you willing to pay the cost?” I knew what that meant, death to self, the cross. When someone is worshiping and in the presence of the Lord, it’s easy to say Lord I come to the cross. But when we truly have to face the cross, part of us doesn’t want to go through that long drawn out process.Well at least it’s been long and drawn out for me. If you figured out a way to get it done quickly let me know, lol.
2Pe 1:3-7 according as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who has called us to glory and virtue, through which He has given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, so that by these you might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. But also in this very thing, bringing in all diligence, filling out your faith with virtue, and with virtue, knowledge; and with knowledge self-control, and with self-control, patience, and with patience, godliness, and with godliness, brotherly kindness, and with brotherly kindness, love.
Life and Godliness. Do you have life? Do you have an abundant life in Christ? Do you have Godliness? What is Godliness, have you ever considered what that means? The Greek word for godliness was used by ancient pagans to describe those who kept in close contact with their gods. When Peter uses this word here he is talking about the need for Christians to be constantly aware of God’s manifest presence.
Much is spoken of and written about the presence of God. How do we come into the presence of God? Can we presume upon the presence of God? Can we live a life in any fashion we choose and still have ” Godliness?” In the above Scripture we see that we have been called to ” glory and to virtue.” What is glory? Do you have it? Have you experienced it? What about virtue, what does that word mean? If we have been called to it, surely we should understand what it means?
Heb 4:10 For he who has entered into his rest, he also has ceased from his own works, as God did from His.
This is one of the key elements of our lives in Christ. If we never enter this rest, we can never truly apprehend the wonderful promises of the Lord to us. To walk in a peace that surpasses understanding is a walk that takes place in the ” rest,” of God. To have joy in the midst of troubling circumstances and trials can only be realized if we are walking in the ” rest,” of God.
There is a people, in every generation, a remnant people, who choose to believe God and in doing so find themselves in a place of rest, a place of peace, a place of joy that is quite apart from their circumstances. If you would have eyes to see what the Lord would have you see then you too would enter into this rest.
Consider the generation of Job. Consider what Job learned. That generation was absolutely convinced that their position in this world, whether it be their financial position or the state of their health was a direct indication of God’s blessing on their lives. Sadly, the vast majority of professing Christians still believe that.
I had a vision a few months ago and wrote about it in song, here is one version of it with two anointed sisters the amen at the end was Daniel who apparently could not contain himself 🙂 bless his little heart.
Sometimes I think that one of the reasons why Jesus chose
fishermen to be in His group of disciples was because of their
“thick skin”. Jesus knew that He needed people who could handle
the Truth, even if it was a discomfort to their flesh.
Think about it …. Jesus said “Get behind me, Satan!” to Peter!
Did Pete get emotionally devastated and go into a corner and
pout? No, Peter still followed Him. Why? Because Jesus had the
Words of Life!
How would you react if someone called you a devil?
HI saints, I want to talk about the great battle we find ourselves in. You might ask ” what battle?” There is a battle going on for the hearts and souls of professing Christians around the world and believe me, it is fierce. Now, we can look at countries like China and North Korea and so on and know that our brothers and sisters in those countries are engaged in a great battle, an ancient battle, a very familiar battle that saints down through the ages have engaged in. The martyrs from all of the previous centuries would look at these countries and recognize what is going on there, it would be very familiar to them. Yet the battle that I am talking about is the disarming of the saints in the west. 1 Peter 4:1-2 states……….
“Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin; That he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God.”
Now there is wide application in this verse and it certainly applies to each and every one of us wherever we live and whether we experience persecution or not. Yet, no matter where we live or under what conditions we live in, we are all called to ” arm,” ourselves with the fruits of suffering. Now this flies in the face of modern doctrines and teachings. Can you imagine prosperity preachers or word of faith preachers encouraging their followers to find spiritual strength through suffering? Yet this is exactly what the Scriptures teach. And so a vital part of readying ourselves for the coming of the Lord is to know how to react to suffering and persecution. This is why the modern doctrines I have already mentioned, and I will include here ” hyper grace,” are actually part of the great last time deception of the Church, designed not to arm but to dis-arm Gods servants. Now brothers and sisters, no one falls asleep in the midst of persecution, yet the church in the west has fallen into a great slumber, lulled to sleep by various doctrines that appeal to the very flesh we are here in the Scriptures called to deny, to resist.
God is longing to speak to His people but the modern day church, Christendom, is like a bustling city where everyone is going there own way, rushing to and fro, distracted and self focussed.
This shrill noise of music that directs and moves people, the beat being increased as the people seemed to be moved is merely a reflection of the power of any music and not the presence nor the worship of God. It is God’s presence that moves us in the realm of the spirit. Worldly music, including almost all of what passes for worship today, moves in the realm of the soul. The soul is immense and can never be filled with anything apart from God, everything else will leave you wanting.
We need to encounter something bigger than all that exists, and only God, and God alone can do that. So, why does the modern church settle for something less than God and choose to stay within the realms of the soul? It does not want to sacrifice to come into the holy of Holies. It is the Cain spirit. They will give the product of their own efforts and count this as sacrifice but God will have none of it. It remains outisde in the court of the gentiles, so close, but yet so far away. God dwells in a high and lofty place but He beckons to us to come, He beckons to the humble and the contrite and they come to where He is and they dwell there.
Hi saints, I have been writing a lot about the desert recently. The Lord has been inspiring me to write about the desert and about abundant life, overflowing rivers, rivers that rise up and out of their banks. It seems that these are two entirely different subjects but in actual fact, they are one in the same. Now, the desert life certainly applies to every genuine saint and always has done. If we think about Romans 6,7 and 8 we can certainly see the walk of the saint down through the ages. Romans 6 would be about coming out of the world, leaving Egypt behind and passing through the sea. Romans 7 would then be our journey through the wilderness, through the desert where we learn that our own efforts only lead to death. And Romans 8 we see victory in crossing the Jordan into the promised land, an entering into rest.
Yet I now believe we are witnessing something very unique in our day. Not only is there a personal desert that all saints must be tested in, there is also a corporate desert for the Church of the end of ages. I believe that all of Christendom has entered into a corporate desert. This is a final place of testing prior to the Bridegrooms return. This is a valley of decision, a time to count the cost. Shall we move forward? I believe that this place of corporate testing will separate the true Church from that which calls itself the church. Now in the Scriptures we know that a promise was made to Abraham, that he would father a child and that child would represent the seed that would bless all nations.
Hi saints, here is a link http://media.sermonindex.net/24/SID25004.mp3 to a sermon on what it means to Gods remnant saints to walk in the power of unity and in His presence. The unity of God’s people in the end days will be a fulfillment of the high Priestly prayer of Jesus in John 17.
Hi Saints, in a previous post https://acalltotheremnant.com/2013/07/19/the-city-in-the-desert/ we talked about the Church in the desert. We talked about how it was counter-intuitive to go into a desert to find life, but that this indeed was what God was calling us to. And of course it is entirely Biblical. We can see this pattern time and again of being called into the desert, to be stripped of the flesh, sanctified, and learning complete dependence upon God. We see that if we can learn to live a thankful obedient life in the desert, then the joy that we find when we enter into that place of rest, when we cross over the Jordan, is a joy that is full because God, in His full-ness, has been found by the heart that is wholly given to Him.
Now, how much life we garner in the desert has a direct correlation to our life eternally. Jesus taught, in relation to His coming and life eternal, that to “everyone who has, more shall be given, and he will abound. But from him who has not, even that which he has shall be taken away from him.” (Mat 25:29)
What do we have? Have we not love and forgiveness and mercy, do we not have joy and peace? When Jesus spoke of the talents, so many people construe that to be connected to money or actual talents when of course, this was the analogy , the parable, to prove the point. We have made the analogy the actuality, we are mistaken.
All through the Scriptures and down through the corridors of history, we see many patterns. Recently we spoke about the patterns of God calling His people into the desert to find life. Of course this, like so many of the patterns we find in Scripture are counter-intuitive. That is because, one is of the flesh , the wisdom of man, and one is of the Spirit, the wisdom of God that confounds man.
I want to speak this morning about one of these patterns. We see in Scripture, when God calls a man or a people, there is always a competing element that comes against that which He has called. We see that with Cain and Abel and Saul and David, Jesus and the Pharisees , the Catholic church and the martyrs and so on. We saw it with Isaac and Ishmael. One was of the promise and the other one was birthed in an attempt to fulfill the promise by human efforts. One of the flesh, one of the Spirit and the flesh would come to persecute the one of the Spirit. We see it again in Jacob. To him was the promise yet he attempted in his flesh to fulfill that which was already promised. Even although there were two brothers in the same womb, and even although one was the elder,and the Scriptures say that there was two nations within the womb of Rebekah, to only one was the promise. Jacob would eventually flee from his rightful place because he feared the vengeance of his brother.
In a vision I saw the Church of God in the depths of a vast desert. In our flesh we avoid deserts. The vision , I suppose, is metaphorical for the narrow path that leads to life. It makes no sense to think that if I was seeking abundant life that I would seek it in the desert. Yet there it was, the church of God, surrounded by a mighty desert. There was no way to the heart of it but by striking out and heading deep into a place where my only resource, in fact life itself, would be God. If He did not go before me I would die, I would never get there. If He is not a cloud over my head then the sun would kill me. If He is not a fire by night then I will surely freeze to death.
There is nothing attractive about the desert. It is not an alluring place, in fact quite the opposite. Lot chose the well watered places and planes of Sodom in which to dwell. It was near a wicked city, but it was plentiful and life was easy there. Yet at what cost? Does the choices that we make have consequences? We may not lose our souls in the process but we certainly can have leanness of Spirit, the very opposite of the abundant life. The cares of this world, the proximity to Sodom, or the ease we have in Babylon certainly factor into our walk with the Lord. Only when asked to leave this place or give it up can we know what hold it has over us. Lots wife would have had doubts, but in the turning round to look back at what she was leaving, the question was answered. The desert was not for her.
Dear sister Lynn writes……………..”truly the weight of his glory was there, and he among us. I can not express just how precious the whole three days were, some very special brothers and sisters drawn together. Blessings, lynn ” This comment is from a dear sister who attended our remnant meetings last weekend.
I would say this would sum up our meetings very well. The weight of His glory fell upon us. From the beautiful still silence of His rest arose a symphony of praise to our God. His presence fell upon us like the dew of Hermon that fell upon the mount of Zion. And just as the Lord commanded the blessing, we found life, abundant life in the river of God that flows from His High and lofty place. There is much noise in the land brothers and sister. There is much professional worship that makes a great noise. In the world’s eyes it sounds great and is somewhat familiar to their ears because much of it is fashioned after the music of the world. It is designed to entertain. Yet, can I suggest, that if the Lord does not inhabit it then it is merely noise and it actually drowns out the small still voice that would whisper to us ” He is beautiful beyond description, to marvelous for words, to wonderful for comprehension, like nothing ever seen or heard, who could grasp His infinite wisdom, who could fathom the depths of His love. He is beautiful beyond description, majesty enthrones above.”
As God gathers His people together, a hush will fall upon their hearts. They will catch their breaths as the King of glory comes in, comes in in all of His fullness. As He begins to flood the dry creek beds with a mighty rushing river then the saints will begin to rise up and minister in the overflow of His presence. There is a fresh wind beginning to blow in the hearts of Gods saints. There is a fountain rising in their hearts. And the source of this fountain is God Himself in all of His majestic glory. And out of this river flows an everlasting abundant love. It fills us with light and this light is the life of men. Look unto God and see what it truly means to live an abundant life in Christ.
For many saints today, as they survey the land and as they walk through many trials and tribulations, it is not always easy to rest in the fact that the Lord delights in you. Today I want to take time to encourage you. You know that in you is a burning word. You cannot keep silent. You cannot relent as others seem to. Even although much of Christendom is mocked by the world and rightly so. Even although the Lord is blasphemed by those of the world because of the low condition of Christianity, God still has a people who cannot remain silent. The Lord says to you today ……………
I have set watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem, who will not always be silent all the day nor all the night; you who remember Jehovah, do not be silent. And give Him no rest until He establishes and makes Jerusalem a praise in the earth.( Isa 62-6-7)
Brothers and sisters, this is Gods word to us in this day. Do not remain silent even although you may have suffered much for your stand. Continue to come before the Lord and give Him no rest until He establishes and brings to pass His will in His people. God has commanded that we give Him no peace. He has encouraged us to keep coming to Him and praying for the Church, even although as we survey the land we see great desolation. Can I tell you today that God has given us great promises for His own. He says, so it shall come to pass, that the her righteousness shall go forth as brightness and her salvation will be as a lamp that burns. He tells us that we have a crown of glory and that we shall be as a royal diadem in His hand. When the world looks at the church they shall no longer mock or laugh derisively.
A Call To The Remnant 