1Co 9:25 And every one who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown; but we an imperishable.
We have to run this race in such a way that we are trying to win. An athlete is totally committed to his or her sport. They will not do anything that would undermine their ability to be in the best shape that they could be. This is a fairly simple truth which has been preached on a lot and few would disagree with the truth of it. Yet, the context of chapter nine is money. It seems like Paul is complaining about not being supported financially. He then lays out the reasoned argument as to why he should be just like some of the the other Apostles. He says things like “who plants a vineyard and does not eat of the fruit?” And again “you shall not muzzle the ox while it treads out the grain.” And then he uses the always interesting word “nevertheless.” This adverb is used in a sentence after a concession. He concedes that the rule is that he should be supported “but.” And it is the but that is interesting.
“We have not used this but endure all things lest we hinder the Gospel.” “That when I preach the Gospel of Christ without charge, that I may not abuse my authority in the gospel.” It follows that just because you can do a thing, does not mean you should. An athlete does not have to train every day. He or she does not have to rigidly watch their diets. They have the freedom to do such things, but would it be wise? Would it hinder their ability to run the race properly? And of course, it would. This is what Paul is saying in chapter nine, which is so often used in defense of countless ministries being supported. Paul disciplines himself and refrains from what could be lawfully his “lest when I have preached to others I myself should not be disqualified.” The gospel is central to everything that Paul does. He lives and breathes the Gospel. He even goes as far as to say that “it would be better for me to die than anyone should make his boasting void.” Death would be more appealing to Paul than anyone accuse him of preaching the Gospel for money’s sake.
This passion that causes us to run the race is the Lord Jesus Christ Himself! The genuine saint is horrified if he or she would do anything that would bring their Lord and His gospel into disrepute. They would rather suffer the loss. Saints, how then do we run this race? In some kind of half heart-ed measure? Shall we not run this race of life like the top athletes who disciplines their body in order to win the price? And that price is but for a perishable crown, something that can never last. Yet we for an imperishable crown! For holiness sake! For glories sake! For righteousness sake? For Christ’s sake! These are all eternal. With our eyes firmly set upon the Lord Jesus Christ and His Gospel, we run, not like those of the world who run for money and for fame and for fortune. Our treasure lies in heaven above. We store up our treasure by running the race with everything that we have, holding nothing back. Laying down every single thing that would hinder us and the Gospel of Jesus and the Kingdom. This is our calling brothers and sisters, to lay it all down, starting with our rights. Paul was laying down his right.The only right we really have is the right to suffer and die for the cause of Christ! And we know that those who suffer with Christ shall reign with Him. That is our reward, that is our “imperishable crown.”
To be known by you sets my troubled heart at ease
It lifts me high above the waves, above the stormy seas
To be known by you fills me with such great desire
It overflows my flooded heart and puts out every fire
To be known by you means that I have been redeemed
Delivered from the guilt and shame and every voice that screamed
To be known by you puts a sword into my hand
To be lifted up from the battle-field that I once more might stand
To be known by you sets all my enemies to flight
And with the Word of God helps me navigate the night
To be known by you it is manna to my soul
For that which once was broken, you have now made whole
To be known by you will hold me in that hour
When all the world is crumbling, I'll be standing in your power
This I know in the depths of my heart to be true
That I am overwhelmed that I am known by you.
I want to share a personal testimony. Many of you, my brothers and sisters in the Lord, over the years, have prayed for my family. I praise the Lord for that. Prayers for youngest son Daniel who has Down Syndrome, and prayers for my oldest son Christopher, who had, to say the least, a very challenging life due to sin and breaking the law. He is 38 now, but all of his troubles really began back in high school. The police were at our door a lot. After he left high school he just kept on going. Alcohol and drugs and crimes related to that. Violence and lies. It broke me as a father and I threw myself at the feet of Jesus. If I tried to get up on my own two feet, I would quickly be knocked back down. I was in over my head and I had no idea how to handle that. The old Frank was constantly screaming for control. It was really an exhausting battle. I was being thoroughly broken. I cried out to God from the depths of my heart, on my knees, more times than I can remember. In the quiet of the night, walking the floor, many many tears. In the morning getting up, and being strong again for the family.
It all came to a head when he was arrested for a very serious crime. The police had been watching him for many months and they had turned one of the guys who bought from him and sent him in to make a purchase and that is when they swooped in and arrested him. They wanted him to turn on the guy above him, but he refused to. And so he was under house arrest awaiting trial. He had to blow into a machine which also takes your picture. Unbeknownst to me, he had a bottle of Whiskey in the basement. A surprise call on the machine at 2am in the morning caught him of guard. He was to turn himself in immediately to be incarcerated. Rather than doing that, he cut the GPS unit of his ankle ( a felony in and of itself) and went on the run for well over a year. We had the US Marshals at out door. He ended up in Scotland and then finally he was caught by the Federales in Mexico. Extradited to Florida and then extradited to Kansas. He was finally home. I agreed to get him a “good,” lawyer, but only if he pleaded guilty to his charges. He reluctantly agreed.
He was remanded in jail and was eventually sentenced to three years in Lansing state prison in Kansas. For the first time in our whole lives, we really began to establish a relationship. I would visit him most Saturdays. In the middle of all of this we faced two horrible court battles in order just to see our grandson. Through every moment in this story there was miracle after miracle, not least the miracle of our sanity. My wife and I grew much closer together and a few times we would just look at pictures of Christoper and Mason and cry together. It was “our pain.” It is hard to explain God’s favor sometimes but every step of the way, He was one step ahead of us. When I was down and thought I could not get back up, He picked me up. When my mind was like a violent sea with mountainous waves, He came to me and whispered that He was jealous for my thoughts and suddenly the waters were still.
It has been around eight years now since Christopher has been released. He committed his life to Jesus and has been out of trouble. A few months ago he came to me and told me he was going to apply to have his three felonies expunged. I was delighted with that idea. Myself and a dear brother prayed about this, as did Christopher’s Godly grandma. Two of the three records were expunged but the most serious of the crimes, the drug dealing was not. When he was sentenced he was put on a drug dealing registry. Very few States have them but Kansas did. For 15 years he has to register with the local Sheriff every three months and pay a fee. If he traveled anywhere in the county, the local Sheriff of where he was going had to be notified. The Judges hands were tied, by law, he could not expunge it. We thanked and praised the Lord for the two that were expunged and committed the other one to His will. About three weeks ago Christopher got a letter from the prosecutors office. The law had just been changed. If you had stayed out of trouble for five years after your probation was over, then the judge now has the discretion to expunge. Yesterday Christopher was in front of the judge and this final part of his history was erased.
I thought about the world expungement. In practical terms it means that if you look up Christopher’s record now, he does not have one. It is like he never had this past. How many of us have been Spiritually expunged? No matter our past, the forgiveness and mercy and grace of the Lord wipes it all away, born again. Renewed. I want to take a minute today to publicly thank my Heavenly Father! And my Lord Jesus Christ who sticks closer to us than a brother. And the power of the Holy Spirit to move over and over again. No matter how many waves threaten to drown us, His hand kept our heads above water. We stand, because of His great love. An incredibly broken situation that seemed to be irreparable, has been put back together by the magnificent Hand of God. Maybe you think your own situation or your family situation is broken beyond repair? Its a lie. There is nothing that God cannot put back together. Take your pieces and bring them before the throne. It is there alone that an all powerful, loving God can take the ashes of your situation and make something beautiful out of it. There is a history of rebellion in my family, but there is a greater history of redemption.
1Co 5:11 But now I have written unto you not to keep company, with anyone named a brother who is sexually immoral or, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; not even to eat with such a person.
Fellowship, is one of the most vital aspects of our faith. First and foremost is our fellowship with the Lord. Unless we are vitally connected to Him then we have no power. He alone is the reason that we stand. He alone is the reason that we have been transformed. It is His love and His grace and His mercy that we totally rely upon to live. We cannot let anything or anyone come between us and the Lord. If something or someone is hindering our walk with the Lord we must choose. Who shall you choose to offend? Will you offend the Lord so that you may not offend a friend? These are the kinds of choices that shape us. Who shall we be in Christ? This phrase “named a brother,” is interesting. Paul could have just wrote brother, but he did not. The inference is obvious. Just because you call yourself a brother, or a sister, in no way means that you are. We shall know them by their fruit the Word tells us.
Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? (2Co 6:14) People who profess to be Christians but who live in any of the sins mentioned above are not to be fellowshipped with. This is the plain reading of the Scripture. This is the great flaw in most of what we call “churches,” today. It is vital oh saint that you gather together with other people who have a like minded passion for Jesus and His Word. Only you can discern what this means to you. What does the Word say? What is the Holy Spirit saying to you? The communion of the saints is such a vital part of who we are as Christians, but it must be with other saints living a Biblical life, it cannot be with false professors. How can I know this Frank? You must discern it by the Word and by the leading of the Holy Spirit. Remember saints, out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. A man or woman will talk about their passions. The Spirit in you will witness with the Spirit in others. Only by this kind of fellowship comes growth. You cannot grow in any other way other than that which is prescribed by the Word of God.
For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; (1Co 3:11-12)
There is but one foundation and His name is Jesus. How then shall we build upon that which was laid down for us? There are those who receive the love truth of the Word and the Lord Jesus Christ, high and lifted up. Nothing will cause them to deviate from what they have been taught by the Holy Spirit through the Word of God. Though cultures may change and systems may be added, they will have none of it. The traditions of men mean nothing to them, only the preeminence of the Lord Jesus Christ and Him crucified. They determined in their hearts to not know anything other than this, the great foundation of Christ. Though men may persecute them and burn them, the fire that men kindle cannot destroy the works of God in them, rather it but purifies them. They stand immovable upon the solid foundation and this is precious in the sight of God. Precious like spiritual gold and silver and precious stones.
Now, there are many who build upon His foundation with wood and hay and stubble. In any fire these elements burn up quickly and it leaves but ashes behind. Men will find out in that great day of what elements their work was of. I put it to you that most of what we see in Christendom today is but wood and hay and stubble. It shall all be swept away in the fire of God’s judgment and those involved will suffer great loss and come out of it with but his soul saved if he is indeed the Lord’s. Imagine the great tragedy of a lifetimes work gone in a moment of time. What you thought was precious, all of your works and efforts, revealed to be but wood, hay and stubble. Yet those whose works endure shall receive a reward. What works you might ask? The works of love and joy and peace in the midst of hatred and insecurity and anxiousness. The works of obedience to the Lord and to His word despite the traditions of men who set themselves up to come against anyone who would challenge their traditions and the authority they have.
God does not judge the outer man, he judges the inner secrets of the heart. He is not impressed with huge buildings and organizations of. He does not dwell in temples built by human hands. Heaven is His throne and earth is His footstool. In the last 2000 years these institutions have been led by stiff-necked men who always resist the Holy Spirit. They reject the Word of God in favor of the traditions of men and the pursuit of power and authority. It is all wood and hay and stubble. And yet there are the few who have built upon the true foundation with Truth and endurance, suffering and overcoming, to them belong the reward. They may have been hated here on earth but they walked in the love of God. They may not have a “ministry,’ as men measure these things but they minster to the Lord before His throne with the tears of their broken-hearts and their contrite spirits. Their narrow road home is laid upon the foundation of Christ and Him crucified. To walk this way is to suffer indignities. To be broken. To be ridiculed and rejected by men. To be seen as nothing according to the measurements of men but to have great treasure indeed in the economy of God. We are rich brothers and sisters, never forget that. Into our hands and hearts was placed gold and silver and precious jewels. And by these we have been called to enrich others.
1Co 2:9 But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.
Taken from Isa 64:4 we see here repeated the marvel of the prophet as he talks about those who love God and who wait upon Him, and with expectation, rejoice in what is coming through God’s hand. No amount of wisdom or knowledge nor understanding could give anyone even a glimpse of the things that God was preparing for those who loved Him. The Christ Himself was coming! God, in the flesh, was coming to walk this earth among men! He was coming to establish a connection with Father, long since broken by sin. He was coming to defeat hell and death and sin. Who could understand such things before He came? Who could see that He was coming to the whole world? The seed of Abraham would bless all nations. “For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus……..there is neither Jew nor Greek….. slave nor free…..male nor female …..you are all one in Christ Jesus.” For those who would be born again and baptized into a Christ who would be rejected, tortured, ridiculed and spat on and nailed to a tree
And yet we also see a glorious future revelation. “I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also. And where I go you know, and the way you know.” (John 14:2-4) This place, in His Fathers house, that the Lord has prepared for us who know Him, is a place that we know, according to Jesus. And though no eye has seen nor ear heard nor has it entered into the hearts of man, these things which God has prepared for those who love Him, those who know the Lord, know these things by the Spirit of revelation. Upon our hearts are written His law and in the depths of this heart God has revealed these things to us. “But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit.” (1 Cor 2:10) We “know,’ brothers and sisters, we know. The very same Spirit of God searches the depths of the Father and reveals these things to His own that men outside of the Kingdom know nothing of.
Kingdom knowledge that is but a mystery and foolishness to men, is clear to the saints. We walk in a certainty and an assurance of things to come. We “know,” things,’by the Spirit of God. We recognize other saints by the Spirit of God. He witnesses to our spirits. Men should not be surprised at this. As someone who was born and raised in Scotland, no matter where I am in the world and I hear a Scottish accent, I immediately can identify a fellow countryman. Dear saints, it is so in the Spirit. I speak to a certain man or a woman and I hear the “accent,” of God. I hear the unmistakable language of the Spirit in another though they come from lands far from me yet we both belong to the same Kingdom which has its own language which resonates in the depths of my spirit. An utter joy to hear and recognize another saint. And in this I am not speaking about the gift of tongues. A language of the heart that can only be spoken by those who have “seen,” His glory. Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks! We “know,’ things that are not known by natural men, for we are supernatural men and women. Our spiritual eye has seen, and our spiritual ear has heard the glory of God. It has indeed invaded the very depths of who we are. We see Him high and lifted up and the train of His robe fills the temple. We are that temple.
Suppose a company of ugly, unattractive persons lived together in one house. Suppose that they never saw any other man or woman, only themselves, they never saw anyone that was arrayed with the splendors and perfections of physical beauty. They would not be capable of comparing themselves with anything other than themselves, and consequently would not know and not be disappointed at their own ugliness and natural defections. Now, bring them them out of their cells and holes of darkness, where they have been shut up by themselves, and let them see the beauty and attractiveness of others and then, they will be sorry and dejected at the view of their own ugliness.
This is the case, men are marred by sin and are rotten, corrupted and depraved. When they dwell together in the dark they see neither God, nor angels nor saints in their excellent nature and beauty. Therefore they are apt to count their own ugliness and deformity as things of beauty and glory. Now, let such, as I said, see God, see saints, or the beauty of the Holy Spirit and know themselves that they have not any of this, and they cannot but be affected and sorry for their own deformity. (John Bunyan, The excellence of a Broken heart. )
John, very ably speaks, in his analogy, of a broken ugly world marred and deformed by sin. Those so marred rarely have any desire to be around what is beautiful. Think of David as he worshiped God and Saul tries to pin him to that wall with a spear. Saul hated David. He hated David first and foremost because David had God and every time he saw him it was a reminder to Saul that he did not. The saints of God would be hated is they never spoke a word. The beauty in them, that shines upon their face and is displayed by their love and forgiveness, is a terrible reminder to a dark and ugly world that they are dark and ugly. The worlds solution is simply to never be around Gods excellent ones. they must only be around their own.
Then their ugliness and sin is swallowed up by the perpetual darkness of their fellow ugly people. Lest some people make the claim that they are good and not ugly and deformed, God says that all the righteousness of men are like filthy rags before His eyes. The people of the world are ultimately united in their ugliness and their desire to avoid, at all costs, the mirror of truth. To look into this mirror is to see the vileness of the one looking back. The world has its own mirror and it is as deceptive as their blackened hearts. This is why, to genuinely encounter God is to fall down as one who is dead. To cry out “is there mercy for me.” To shout out from the depths of their exposed darkness “what must we do.” To see the ultimate beauty of God in His perfection and glory is to cast His light onto the lying mirror and suddenly we are horrified to see what is looking back.
The mask is ripped away. The fig leave falls to the ground. And there we are, naked before God and we know, no one has to tell us anything. We know of our deformity and ugliness. And now we must be swallowed whole by His majesty and glory. The mountain of our sin and darkness melts like wax in the presence of the Lord. That which was ugly now reflects the beauty of God. That which was deformed now is made whole. From the ashes of our fallen flesh rises the beauty of our risen Lord and He rises up in us. Now the world sees something of His majesty in us and sees their own wickedness reflected back. Only in this state, when a man or woman is confronted with who he or she truly is, and then discovers that there is mercy and grace to be found in the beauty of His holiness, can that man or woman truly be saved. To truly fall and rise again in the newness of birth, the second birth. Those who reject this revelation of who they are, their conscience accuses them, condemn themselves to an eternal life of ugliness.
1Co 2:2 For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified.
This is the heartbeat of genuine Christianity. It is so central to who we are that it is forever before us. Jesus Christ and Him crucified. From this flows all things. From the Lord Jesus and His death for us flows life eternal. For us to walk in this life we must walk in Christ with a cross upon our back. Take up your cross daily the Lord commands us, that we might be worthy to be His disciples. Jesus is our singular identity. It is Jesus first and last and in all things. His cross draws us to take up our cross. Without a daily cross, without the breaking process, we are simply not worthy to be called His disciples. Tozer would say “you know one thing about a man carrying a cross our of the city, you knew he wasn’t coming back.” There is no turning back when there is a cross upon your own back. You are dead to this world and the world knows it. The testimony of Christ in you is the cross on your back and the supernatural joy that is in you that you are counted worthy to bear it.
It is not the words that we speak or the way that we speak them, it is the life that we live that is a testimony to the Lord Jesus Christ. No eloquence is required although when the Holy Spirit gets a hold of your tongue it will make William Shakespeare seem like stammering fool. It is our calling to declare the testimony of God and the testimony of God is Christ and Him crucified. It burns at the heart of who we are. It rises up in us and declares Him holy. Again and again and again in our lives we are reminded that we walk under the shadow of the cross. Of the One crucified, of the greatest sacrifice, and we are called to follow in our Lord’s footsteps. Oh how the disciples celebrated after they were scourged. They could not believe that they were counted worthy of entering into His sufferings. Do you see that Spirit today? Paul spoke in weakness and fear and in much trembling. Paul was not afraid to highlight his weaknesses in order to lift up His Lord, because it was all about Jesus, it was all about Him crucified, it was all about lifting Him up, not himself. Oh that we were surrounded by such men today, and yet, tragically it seems that we are surrounded by the opposite.
Isa 63:3 I have trodden the winepress alone; and of the people there was none with me: for I will tread them in mine anger, and trample them in my fury; and their blood shall be sprinkled upon my garments, and I will stain all my raiment.
There comes a time in all our lives when there was no one in all the earth to help us. We are entirely alone and unless the hand of God moves in our favor then there is no hope to be found. Yet Christ alone is mighty in battle. The enemies that surrounded you, the enemies that surround you even now must reckon on the fact that your are His. He alone will deal with all of your enemies. Your ancient enemies in your own life may be anger or hatred and bitterness, long ago passed down from generation to generation. A family and a history of a family raised in chains and kept by cruel taskmasters. Yet Jesus hears the cries of the afflicted. He saw your affliction and He was mighty in battle to help those who will acknowledge their need of Him and who can see their own state.
There is coming a day soon enough when all of the Lord’s enemies shall be dealt with though it may seem that over the centuries they have been forgotten. God brings all things to justice in the end. He is a God of order and of righteousness. He is indeed long suffering with those who despise Him and mock and ridicule Him. It is entirely a blessing that His ways are higher than our ways and His thoughts are above our thoughts. Yet despite all of that, there is a wine-press and the people of this world are indeed the grapes of wrath. Shall we find ourselves trodden underfoot by the King of Kings, or shall we be found at His side in that day? According to the multitude of His loving-kindnesses He should be praised. And of His mercies they are without number. Yet the world has abandoned You and hardened their hearts to Your ways.
Lord look down from heaven and see from Your holy habitation. See now the afflictions of your people and see their heart toward you. They cry out day and night for the day of your return. They long with all of their hearts to see Justice take its rightful place. Their hearts are indeed vexed like righteous Lot as he lived among a vile and unrepentant people. A people who even when blinded by the Angels of the Lord, still attempted to carry out their ever evil thoughts and desires. Are we not like Sodom Lord, are we not worse than Gomorrah? Truth lays trampled in our streets and righteousness has been banished to the alleyways and hidden places. Pride now marches down the main streets of our town and cities with their banners flying high, so proud of their utter rejection of You. Come Lord Jesus come we pray that your name may be lifted up and that all men may know that your are the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords and you alone deserve all the glory and praise of men’s hearts.
Daniel said to me today “I miss you dad.” I knew what he meant. What he meant to say is that “I’m gonna miss you.” You see we are going out of town next week and this is one of the ways that Daniel conveys to you that he loves you. And so when he said that, I put the cups song on in which one of the lines goes “I’m gonna miss you when your gone.” We danced. He twirled, I twirled, we interlocked arms and danced in a circle in a Scottish fashion. And when the dancing was over we hugged. As I walked into the backyard afterwards, with the sun shining warmly thought the Locusts trees, and the birds watching me from their various perches,wondering if I was about to fill their feeder ( I was) my heart warmed to the thoughts of what a privilege it was for me to have Daniel. When we need someone to look after something that is very precious to us, we pick someone we know and love and trust. And as I was thanking God for entrusting me with something that was very precious to Him……I realized that my heart was full.
Daniel is my youngest son who is 29 and has Down Syndrome.
There is so much noise in the average persons life, noise and activity and business. Yet, at the beating heart of who we are, is the still small voice of Jesus, the lover of our soul. I dearly wish that a great hush would fall over the church. That all the noise would simply be replaced by a holy quietness. The musicians would put down their instruments, the talkers would stop talking and there we would remain until the Lord came upon us.
The cry of our hearts should be audible in the congregation. The longing seeking heart should replace the noisy professionals. Just one cry, crying out the name of Jesus with all the longing of a desperate heart would surely bring heaven down to earth. Rain would fall on a dry and dusty land. Our hands would be open to heaven like a chick’s open mouth in anticipation of being fed.
Oh God in heaven come down. We are dying here without your burning love consuming us. We were reborn to be passionate, we were reborn to be lovers, we were reborn with a zeal for you that knows no bounds. We were reborn in your image Lord and we are designed to praise you. Oh that we would have eyes only for you. That we would put aside everything that vies for our attention and love you and come to you and be moved by you and anointed by you and inspired by you and revived by you and refreshed by you and forgiven by you. That we would know the heights of heaven and take some of that glory down into the valley of this world.
Lord help us this day to come to you with an open heart so that we may stand with you under an open heaven. When we close our door to this world and all of its distractions then behold, another door opens. After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven…….and immediately I was in the spirit: and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne……… and there this cry was heard…..Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come. He stands at the door and knocks.
Isa 59:19 When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the LORD shall lift up a standard against him.
What a tremendous promise from the Lord in His Word. Now there are two different ways this can be read given that there was no punctuation in Hebrew. It could read “When the enemy shall come in…….like a flood the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him.” We often ask the Lord to flood our hearts or flood our lands will revival glory. Let the heavens be rent and pour down your mercy upon us. It’s a lovely thought, but it really does not fit the context of Isa chapter 59. The enemy has indeed come in like a flood and the saints have to raise up a standard. They face overwhelming odds and all seems lost. God will deliver His own. The Lord Jesus Christ will come again. The standard represents a flag. Every battalion has its colors, has its flags, and they flutter over every battle. Every tribe of Israel had a flag that represented who they were (Num 1:52) We the saints have our own flag and the emblem upon it is the cross. God lifted up His very own Standard, He lifted up the Lord Jesus on the cross for the deliverance of men’s souls.
The Standard separates men. It draws its own and they rally under it. The wicked reject this Standard.Their iniquities have separated them from god. His face is hidden from them because of their sin. They search for light but they find only darkness. They stumble at noonday as if it is dusk and the shades of grey overtake their minds as they grope along the wall headed towards a ditch. They have turned their backs on God, and righteousness stand afar off. For them, truth has fallen in the street. They are determined to hunt down everyone who has departed from evil and who have rallied under the Standard, the flag that represents Calvary. And when there is found no one to stand for God’s people, God comes. He pours out His Spirit upon us and He puts His words in our mouths. And the Spirit of the Living God shall not depart from us even as we march through the valley of the shadow of death. For the Lord our God walked this very path before we ever did. He broke the chains of hell and death and destroyed the power of sin. We stand eternally under the cross of Calvary where our Lord defeated all of hell’s fury. Stand today brothers and sisters, this is our call to arms.
Does the Lord dwell within a building or does He dwell within our hearts? A heart beats, it has chambers, it has blood that pumps through veins and travels to every part of the body bringing life sustaining oxygen. The Body, while complex and made up of many parts, is totally dependent upon the heart. To meet in the name of Jesus is to meet with saints who are identified by the character and the nature of Jesus. Every genuine saint has his or her place already set within the heart, within the body. The Lord Jesus Himself is building this body. Only that which belongs can enter into the system that the Lord is building. Our own natural bodies have an immune system that deals with anything that should not be there. To have a cohesive body, each part must belong there, must be placed there. There is an architect of this Body, this Temple, and His name is Jesus. Only He builds.
Many burning embers together create the potential for a great fire. Throw a log on one ember and it may catch fire after a while, throw a log onto many burning embers and it will catch fire right away. One fire, many embers greater light, greater heat. Now, gather a bunch of branches together with no fire and you will just have a bunch of branches. It could not call itself a fire for it clearly is without fire. Just because you call yourself a Christian and gather in the name of Jesus means nothing if you are not actually Christians. A bunch of dead wood is a bunch of dead wood. And for those who have built fires, they know that a fire can be smothered by piling a lot of material on top of it. The oxygen is choked out. If one hundred people gather and only ten are genuinely saved then the other 90 will not catch on fire, but the fire itself shall be smothered by the green wood.
This scripture where two or three are gathered in my name, is far more important than we know. To gather in the name of Jesus is a deeply spiritual thing for those who have been born again according to His Spirit, His character and His nature. The enemy has done his level best to dilute that to the point where any fire that existed would be smothered.Being a Christ follower means to bear the life of Christ in us. So, when two or three genuine Christ followers come together for the sole purpose of spirit being drawn unto spirit then there is a magnification that takes place. Like a magnifying glass that captures the light of the sun and turns it into something very potent, then the Holy Spirit takes the light that is within us, the two or the three or the however many and turns it into something very powerful. Darkness is the mere absence of light. It cannot be magnified. Take a thousand dark souls and gather them together and what do you have? Darkness. Take the light from two or three or one hundred or a thousand genuine saints , undiluted by the darkness of unbelievers and down comes the power of God in a unique way.
In these last days there is a purging going on. The genuine saints are being purged out of the gatherings by the Lord where the majority are not saved or are lukewarm. Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. What fellowship has righteousness with unrighteousness? What communion has light with darkness? Are you not the temple of the Living God? Therefore come out from among them says God. Be separate and touch not the unclean thing. In Revelations chapter two we see that the church in Ephesus hated the deeds of the Nicolations as did God. Not much is known about this group but it estimated that they were a group that took on the customs of the Romans in order to avoid persecution. The genuine saint resists the ways of the world, they do not embrace them. Yes it is costly and yes there is great loss involved. Yet what is any amount of loss amount to if we are found in Him?
We must gather together in ways that are ordered of God. We must walk according to the rhythm of Gods heart. We cannot walk to the beat of this world. Ember must find ember. There is fire in the heart of the saints. As the world closes in, we cannot yield simply because the congregation that we have always belonged to has yielded. This is everything being tested by God. In the end, where does your loyalties lie? Jesus is the Word is He not.? If you were invited to a get together somewhere but they said to you, do not bring your son, he is not welcome. Would you go? Would your heart not break for the rejection of your son? You certainly would not go where your child was not welcome. Should we go where Christ is not welcome? He is the Word. He is the way and the truth and the life. He must be the honored guest and the preeminent one at all of our gatherings. Whether two or two hundred. God is opening up a chasm. As the chasm widens, one must choose what side of the chasm we are committed to. Soon it becomes too wide. If you try and straddle both sides you will plummet into the chasm. Choose wisely who you gather with.
You have to establish a non petitioning heart before you can truly petition the Lord. What do I mean by that? Does your prayer life consist mostly of petitions, meaning, is it just about you asking for things? Take a moment and reflect upon your prayers. I want to give you some examples. In Acts 16 we see Paul and Silas in a terrible situation. They were hungry and thirsty. They were seriously injured. They were held captive. They could well be killed. And here is what we know about their communications with God. ” At midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God.” There is nothing to indicate they were praying for their personal needs, no, rather they were praising God in the midnight hour. That very same hour, the jailer, after crying out “what must I do to be saved,” got saved, his family got saved, Paul and Silas were delivered from their bonds, the stripes upon their backs were tended to and food was set before them.
In Acts chapter seven we see Stephen in a terrible situation. He had just spoken mightily by the power of the Holy Spirit and the crowd were riled up and they had murder in their heart. Did Stephen cry out for deliverance? Did He petition God to shield him in that moment? Here is what happened “He, being full of the Holy Spirit gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God, and said, Look! I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God…..then he knelt down and cried out with a loud voice, Lord, do not charge them with this sin. That day a young man called Saul witnessed what had happened and the seeds of his own salvation was planted.
Brothers and sisters, there is much power in not giving heed to the situation you find yourself in. The Kingdom of God transcends all situations, if only we had eyes to see the glory of God through the darkest nights, the good news is that we do. Every night is like the noonday sun to those with eyes fixed upon Jesus. Now, is it right and proper to petition the Lord? Yes, of course. Yet, we all know someone who only ever talks to us when they want something, is that not right? How do you feel when you see that person approach? Does your heart not sink? Does it not sink even deeper when they pretend to be nice to you? We have names for people like that. Hypocrites? Fair weather fans? People who only come around to get what they want or to be part of a success.
First and fore-most in our lives we have been called to glorify God. No matter what our situations are, no matter what chaos the enemy might have caused, we need to stand in the power that comes from glorifying God in our prayers. We need to lift up the name of Jesus. We need to glorify the Lord our God. We need to see Him high and lifted up and then we need to lift up our eyes to that vision of Him. He is with us and He is preeminent not just in our hearts but in every aspect of our lives. Glorifying God and praising His holy name causes the foundations of our captivity to begin to shake. God is not in the business of building prisons, He is in the business of tearing them down. He does not throw people behind prison cells, He throws open the doors. He breaks the bars of captivity. He is worthy to be praised and He has given us the way. Establish the proper order. Love Him, praise Him, give Him honor and glory. Let the principalities and powers know that no matter what, The Lord Jesus Christ will be praised, before any mention of our needs.
Philippians 4:6 Tells us “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, let your requests be known to God, and the peace of God which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” We see a very similar text in Matt 6:25 Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than food, and the body than clothes? And so we see the two sets of instructions from Jesus, be anxious for nothing, or the almost identical phrase “take no thought for your life.” What might be the primary petitions of the saint? And how are these petitions to be framed? Well we see from Phil 4:6 that they are to be framed by, or bathed in, thankfulness. It is the thankful heart that breaks through to the throne-room. And with this thankful heart we pray, we glorify God, and into this heart He pours in His desires. And His greatest desire is that we would be like His Son.
And therefore, having put the cares of this life aside we stand devoid of distractions. We cry out to God that He would help our unbelief. That He would give us wisdom, that He would glorify Himself in whatever situation we find ourselves in. Whether in the depths of a dungeon or kneeling before an angry mob who is about to kill us. Whether we face bankruptcy or the grievous loss of a loved one, how shall we glorify you in this Lord? Job’s prayer was to praise God and acknowledge that the Lord gives and the Lord takes away, blessed be the name of the Lord. Brothers and sisters, there is a tremendous power at our disposal if we would only lay down the distractions of this world and lift Jesus us in our minds and hearts and spirits. There are walls to be shaken. There are captives to be set free. Yet we must be free ourselves from the distractions of this world in order to be used in setting at liberty others. Is it possible to live an anxious free life and walk in the power of God? Yes it is. Is it possible to “take no though for your life?” Yes it is. Jesus commanded that we do it and we must decide to do it. It is our decision.
Isa 58:8 Then shall your light break forth as the morning, and your health shall spring forth speedily: and your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of the LORD shall be thy reward.
These are the promises of God to those who walk according to His Spirit and in accordance with His will. We shall loose the bonds of wickedness and undo the heavy burdens of our fellow man. This means that we shall aid and comfort those who find themselves afflicted by the ravages of this life and give comfort and aid to the poor in as far as we are able. This is truly the fast that God would have us do. When you walk in such light to those who dwell in darkness then your light shall surely break through like the morning sun rising over a a world in darkness. The healing balm of Gilead will be ours and it shall go forth from us as unto the nations. Our righteousness in Christ shall go before us and the glory of the Lord shall be our rear guard. When you cry out to the Lord He will answer and say “Here I am.” What greater reward is there? He has called us to lift up our voices with great intensity, like a trumpet, and speak for Him to those who have wandered far.
He will guide us continually as we continue in Him and He will water our thirsty souls whether in springtime rains or summertime drought. You shall be like a well watered garden, like an eternal spring that does nor fail. You shall build the waste place and a highway of Holiness shall be found in you. Even in old age your bones shall be strengthened, for those who wait upon the Lord. And from these waters that flow from you, there shall be established the beginnings of many generations who will rise up and call His name Holy. Jesus will be exalted through the flesh of your flesh long after you return home. God has called the holy ones, the excellent one, the Royal priesthood to be the Repairers of the breach. What the enemy tears down, God rebuilds from the ashes and the ravages of this life. You have seen it in your life, and in the lives of others and it shall be seen in the lives to come for those who fear the Lord and call Him Holy. These are the great and mighty promises of Almighty to God to His own. To you brother, and to you sister. Be encouraged today. God sees it all and your life is bigger than you think.
It is a sad commentary on the established church that so little prayer, if any, takes place in their gatherings. If one were able to take the vitals of any gathering, the way the doctor takes our blood pressure and pulse, then prayer in an individuals life or a gathering would be the pulse. The heartbeat is at the center of our being and prayer is at the center of who we are in Christ. If your “pulse,” were to be taken today, would it show a healthy heart? A healthy prayer life?
When the doctor checks your pulse, he understands each pulse represents a heartbeat. There is the force behind the pulse and the regularity of the pulse. He wants to see a strong pulse because that indicates a good flow of blood to the extremities. The regularity of the pulse indicates that the heart is beating regularly. An irregular heartbeat is a dangerous thing that has to be treated. Now blood pressure measures the force of blood flowing against the walls of your arteries. Too high and there will undoubtedly be undue pressure on your arteries which will make them more elastic which in the end will decrease the flow of blood and oxygen to your heart. Too low and your bodies vital organs do not get enough oxygen and nutrients.
Prayer is the heartbeat of your personal walk with the Lord. Prayer is the heartbeat of any gathering. If it beats low we are quite ineffective. If it beats high and irregular then we setting ourselves up for failure. If our hearts stop beating we die. If there was a spiritual doctor who could take the pulse of your congregation would he find it healthy? Would He find life at all? If He ran the same check on you, how healthy would He pronounce you? Prayer is the strong and steady and vital beat of the heart of our walk with Jesus. The rhythm of the heart of God must be our rhythm. We align our hearts with His. We become one with His heart. We are strong in the Lord and the power of His might only in as much as we pray according to His heart. This is true not only of our personal walk but also of our corporate gatherings. No prayer, no life, no exceptions.
Isa 56:8 The Lord GOD who gathers the outcasts of Israel saith, Yet will I gather others to him, beside those that are gathered unto him.
What a fantastic promise the Lord makes here. He will gather the outcasts, He will gather the remnant, He will gather men and woman from every tribe and every tongue and every nation. Spartacus, a slave, a gladiator, rose up and with his slave army and took the might of the Roman army to the brink of destruction. Yet we are no slave army led by a slave. We are the army of the Lord and Jesus is our leader. He gathers around Himself the outcasts, the rejected, the overlooked. The weakest men from the weakest clans are His army. He raises up paupers to walk with Kings. He takes men and women from the ash heaps of life and He makes something very beautiful out of them. In Psalm 147:2-4 we see that “The Lord builds up Jerusalem, He gathers together the outcasts of Israel. He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds and counts the number of the stars, He calls them all by name.” The number of His outcast army is innumerable but He knows them all by name. Great is the Lord and mighty in power. His understanding is infinite and He raises up the humble.
This outcast army, this royal priesthood, this holy nation, this special people as unto the Lord, are brought to His Holy mountain and they are made joyful in His house of prayer. A house of prayer brothers and sisters, His house shall be known as a house of prayer. And His glory shall cover it. His glory rises in the restored hearts of the outcasts, the rejected, the humbled, the remnant saints. And whether they are Jews or Greeks, whether they are slaves or free, they all have been made to drink into one Spirit and by this one Spirit they are baptized into one Body. One Body rises up. One unity comes forth. The one and only Christ is lifted up as a banner that flutters in the wind of the Spirit over the battle-field that is called life. Only one side can prevail. Only one side will prevail. What side shall we align ourselves with in this the great battle of eternity? Shall we stand under the banner of Christ and align ourselves with His outcast army? Or shall we align ourselves with the world, so sophisticated and enlightened in their own minds, mockers and ridiculers of the saints? There is one battle. One Christ. One army. One Truth. All else is but shades of gray walking in a darkened mist created by the world’s own vain imagination.
Isa 55:6 Seek the LORD while he may be found, call upon him while he is near:
There is a time that is called “while He may be found.” It is a mysterious thing, perhaps, “while it is yet day.” No matter, there is no doubt there is a time to seek the Lord while He may yet be found. In the broadest sense and for the most part it is life itself. Almost always while there is yet breath in our lungs, He may be found. Yet in the the very next sentence we are told “let the wicked forsake his way (note the singular nature of the word, it does not say his ways) The wicked are on a wrong path altogether and in order to turn to God they must reverse their course and go in the exact opposite direction. Yet it’s not just his way that has to change, it’s his thoughts too. It is not so much what we are saved out of, for the Lord can deliver us from the gates of hell, it is what we are saved into. The thoughts of a man make up the core of who he is. The true measure of the new man in the new birth is that his very mind has been transformed. And from the depths of who he is, God changes him from the inside out. And now we shall see, glory to God, that out of the abundance of a mans heart the mouth speaks. And it speaks of Jesus.
Now it is certainly true that God will not always strive with a man. A mans heart can be so hardened and his conscience so seared that his time has come and gone, this is a truly terrifying position. If you find yourself coming close to that place, turn and run to God with everything that is in you. He shall still be found. For He will have mercy upon that man and He will abundantly pardon. We as saints may be tempted to think we are living in a world that is beyond redemption, I have thought that thought many times. Yet here is the humility, God says, My thoughts are not your thoughts nor are your ways My ways. For as the heavens are higher than the earth so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.(Isa 55:8-9) And so just as the rain and the snow falls from the heavens and waters the earth and it brings forth seed for the sower and therefore bread for the hungry, so also does the Word of the God fall down upon the earth. It comes forth from His heart and it always accomplishes what He desires. To the thirsty, behold, water. To the hungry, behold, bread.
And so to those who are watered by the Lord, those who have sought Him out, their thirst is quenched to overflowing. And to those who have been fed by the Lord, they are filled to abundance. They shall stretch out the curtains of their spiritual dwellings for it shall be enlarged. They shall go forth with joy and be led out by peace and the mountains and the hills shall burst into singing before them. And the trees of the field shall clap their hands in delight to see such things. It can clearly be seen that goodness and mercy are following them all the days of their lives. And the thorns and the cares of life are replaced by fruitful trees and evergreens. And they shall always bring forth His fruit in season and they shall never wither for they are as the ones planted by the river, the river of God, the river of life and this river runs with them wherever they go.
Seeking first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness. That scripture is a lovers call not a burdensome command. It calls us and woos us. It beckons us to come like the lover in the night in the song of Solomon. It caresses our hearts and our spirits. Shall we respond? Shall we walk with Him in the cool of the day? Shall we give ourselves to Him? Shall our hearts meet with His heart and shall we feel it burn within us? There are many distractions in this world, so many. Yet we must rise above them all. And we can rise, for we have been given wings that can spread out and catch the updrafts of His presence. He bids us come and it is His very presence that carries upwards, that carries us to the throne room itself. It is there, before the beauty of His Holiness, that we are changed forevermore. There before His glorious majesty that we are transformed. There before His resplendent glory that we are sanctified. It is there where all things are possible. Right there where very soon millions upon millions of saints from every tribe and every tongue and every nation shall cry with all that is within them, Holy, Holy, Holy, is our Lord God Almighty who sits upon the throne, who was, and is and forever shall be. Like a endless wheat field as far as the eye can see, moving as one like the waves of a vast ocean as the wind of the Spirit moves them in unison.
Isa 53:1 Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed?
This is a rhetorical question by the prophet. It is an astonishment that when the Savior comes He shall be rejected. He shall be treated worse than any man. In fact, He shall be so marred as to be almost unrecognizable as a man. He was a tender plant that sprung up, but He sprung up as a root out of the dry ground. He was despised and rejected by His own. His walk would tread the path of sorrows and He would become very familiar with grief. Indeed, He would bear our griefs and carry all our sorrows. Can you imagine the weight of all the sorrows of the world? They would lay stripes upon Him, our stripes. They would wound Him, our wounds. He would be humiliated, our humiliation. They would put nails in His hands and feet and a crown of thorns upon His head, they all belonged to us. And in a cry that echoed throughout all of eternity He would cry out “My God, My God, why has thous forsaken me.” That is our cry, that should have been our absolute despair, yet, He bore it all for us.
The greater astonishment is that after two thousand years He is still rejected today. He was led like a Lamb to the slaughter and this world today would slaughter Him still. And yet even now He loves the world. He calls out to them. To those who would slap Him and mock Him and pull out His hair and spit in His face, He still says “come unto Me.” What love is this? If there is no greater love in the world that a man would lay down his life for his friend, and there is not, then what does laying down your life for an enemy mean? Are you not astonished? Should not the mouths of Kings be stopped as they stagger at this revelation? God the Father sacrificed His only Son so that we might live. Has it even entered into the hearts of man what awaits those who have rejected this sacrifice? If the Son of God Himself cried out from the cross in despair, what shall mere man do in that day as he stands before the magnificence of God? Who will believe this report while there is yet light?
A Call To The Remnant 