I suppose I'd like to start this where we "reside", or should be residing. To make a twist on something written by Henry David Thoreau, in the wilderness is the preservation of the (Saints). That's not quite what Thoreau wrote; He wrote the ("world"). But the wilderness aspect of this, caught my eye. So did the truth of it.
The wilderness, whether figurative or literal, was always a place of refuge, testing, emptying and filling. I needn't pile on the scriptures. They are there and they mean what they say. Let's face it, if we were literally removed from a bustling city and society we were comfortable with, it would be a shock at the least to confront the silence and solitude. But we do now occupy the wilderness far from the world we once loved and served. In essence, we are the "aliens". We serve not the world nor love the world. Its gods have no preeminence in our lives.
Depart ye, depart ye, go ye out from thence, touch no unclean thing;
go ye out of the midst of her; be ye clean, that bear the vessels of the LORD. Isa 52:11
Once we heard the call of God to Jesus Christ, we were commanded to, ... come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you... 2Cor 6:17. Isn't it interesting that Jesus Christ and His Apostles used so many quotes from the OT, especially from Isaiah? Isn't it interesting that the OT prophesied the events of Christ's coming and the Word Himself and His Apostles confirmed the fulfillment of the prophecies? Continuing...
But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light: Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.1Pet 2:9
Whether we live in our cities or suburbs, farms or homesteads, we are not a part of the world. We live in the wilderness of God, with our God, our Refuge; Hid in Christ (Col:3:3). Our lives in Christ are now Christ's. Who were we before our calling and separation as a priesthood before God? We were the world, wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked (Rev 3:17) We had goods and worldly prosperity, control and even domination. We ordered our lives. But these great things could never cloak our nakedness and wretchedness before God. Without the wedding garment given to the elect of God, we couldn't be received by the bridegroom. Thank the God of Mercy that we can see this now!
We were not even considered "a people" by God. And yet, today, those calling themselves "Christian" or called-of- God, boast of their "faith" and show no fruits of humility or of possessing any grave understanding as to just what our earthly stations are. The ungodly feed their tents folks. The sinners feed their tents folks. They do not feed their souls. And that leaves the righteous....
What we amount to, then and now...
Isaiah tells us that, "surely the people is grass".
James tells us that our "tent-life", "is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away ". And, ..."For the sun is no sooner risen with a burning heat, but it withereth the grass, and the flower thereof falleth, and the grace of the fashion of it perisheth: so also shall the rich man fade away in his ways.
...Do we make the mistake of not reading "rich man" deeply enough? Our riches are what we perceive them to be. If our riches are what make us rich by today's standards, so be it. But if our riches are just the brand new pick up in front of our humble little rental unit, then this still applies. Think about it.
Peter tells us, ..." For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away: "
So, scripture has confirmed our "place". Additionally, Isaiah tells us why we are this, ...Isa 40:7: ..."because the spirit of the LORD bloweth upon it:" All Creation is subject to the Creator. But MOST importantly, Isaiah and Peter tell us this in order to show us Who this helplessness and decay is really about, ..."The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever". 1Pet 1:25 ..."But the word of the Lord endureth for ever". And finally, Peter tells us, "And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you". The Word. The Truth. Life! Only the word of God endures. Everything else passes away. Jesus Christ, through Isaiah, Peter and James (among others), tells us in the simplest of terms, what we amount to, apart from the mercy of God who called us into His Light.
It seems that our tents of grass are still too important to us or that we care more for pleasing them than we should. The spiritual grass burns up also. Yes, tares? Only that which receives God's mercy will pass through the fire and live in glory with Christ. But I want to concentrate on the "grass" of our human conditions, our tents which we reside in, as we pass through this life and claim the infilling and abiding of the Father, Son and His Spirit.
...To write the same things to you, to me indeed is not grievous, but for you it is safe.
We are the grass, the vapor, any way you cut it. And beneath the crippling weight of this humbling Truth, the withering grass still finds time for pride. The withering grass fashions idols. "I think, therefore, I am". The "flower" isn't content with glorifying its Creator for its beauty. It falls in love with itself. The "vapor" wishes to hover longer, grow thicker and cover more ground.
This human grass was destined to be burned up long before the creation of the world it loves so. Yet the grass will not be humbled by the Truth of God. The grass wants its lawn to last forever. The grass desires to rule and dominate. It wants to leave a legacy. And it doesn't care that it will not endure as only the Word of the Lord endures.
All flesh is grass Saints. You are withering grass before the Lord God and you profess to dictate your will to Him? This is humanism. The leaven of the world. This is rebellion. This is a contagion which infects our churches and our fellowships and our own lives! Humanism. Another child born of pride.
The grass has become a god.
We seek unto machines, guns and diplomacy. We seek unto wealth, comfort and safety. We seek unto the shelters of lies and strange doctrines which calm us. We seek unto teachers that give us what we want, not what we need. We seek unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep, and that mutter: should not a people seek unto their God? If we are the "people" of God and still have an appetite for the things of this perishing world, then we have forsaken our God and we have opened our very beds to lesser gods. We sleep with the enemy. Harlots we have become. The grass is alive in death.
We seek unto an empty tomb but not unto the risen living Christ. And Jesus Christ tells us in John 15:6: If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. When the branch is removed from the Vine, it withers and dies and is burned up. Jesus Christ is speaking to His called out ones, not the world. Do not forget, ...many are called but few are chosen (M't:22:14). Who else but those grafted to the Vine can suffer a cutting away, a withering and the subsequent fire of God's wrath?
God, the Father of Jesus Christ, gave us a Life in Jesus Christ and we want our own versions of what we think we can squirrel away into it too? Communion with darkness is about God's own children compromising with the world they are separated from. Separated from...? That's a laugh. Shame is what some of you need. Deep, cold, damp, depressing and humbling shame! "Oh I believe the scriptures, yes, yes. I'm just dust, withering grass, how wonderful a comparison. I think I'll profess it to the world. I think I'll profess it to my brethren". You liars! Would the admonition to repent fit in here? Liars! Who has bewitched you?
Apart from Jesus Christ there IS NO LIFE! Apart from the merciful gift of the Faith of Jesus Christ, that God almighty has bestowed upon a few, there is NO HOPE for real Life. Not now and not at the end. And we who have been given this gift of Faith by the mercy of this great God, still squirm, grumble, whine and shake our puny little clenching fists at Him and tell Him that His Life isn't enough! Pride! Pride! What in heaven's name goes before destruction (Proverb:16:18)? PRIDE! And what does pride breed? A haughty spirit. Then they fall. The root of every spiritual malady we suffer is pride. Pride is a Faith killer! What we should be looking for is humility which goes before HONOR! The grass has a voice. The grass says NO, I will serve myself. Well, ...I'd rather listen to the grass-withering "Wind" instead!
The filth of this virus of pride deceives us, destroys our witness, tears our garments to shreds. And without even a thought to a sound mind and humbled spirit, we automatically tap into the root of pride and by doing so, we spit in the face of Jesus Christ, just as the unbelieving heathen beasts of Rome did in Pilate's dungeon. Don't tell me we don't! I have eyes. I have ears. And what I see and hear is disconcerting, at the least. Some of us have eyes that haven't been clouded over by these humanistic horizons and visions of our own worth and purpose that we still hold up before us. Don't tell me we don't! Beware. Our bright horizons and great purposeful visions are of death, not Life. Vision? Skewed. Minds? Distracted. Souls? Near the flames. Are you ready if your soul be required of you this night?
Either we accept "wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked", "grass" and "vapor" or we do not. Whether we are Christ's or not, this is our lot, "human" kindred. Because we have entered into Christ and live by His Spirit does not negate our present human condition. Nor does it negate the consequences when we allow our flesh to be guided by vain desires. Of any kind! And it is this present human condition we must battle fiercely the rest of our lives, Saints. If I did not find myself thinking about reaching out to the vanity of the world or my own "wisdom" and strength from time to time, I would not have to remind myself, at every turn, that I am not acting like I am glued to a Vine I claim to abide in. And so I will remind YOU as well!
And don't tell yourselves that you have it all down pat; You're secure. Don't even think about it. You are not secure in or of yourselves! And your Salvation is conditional as well and NOT as secure as you would like to think it is. Remember shipwreck? Why are we told that storms will beat upon our houses! Why are we told that we will have tribulation? What happened to vigilance? Don't you have a watchtower above your own spiritual houses? Then why aren't aren't you watching and praying as commanded by Jesus Christ. No, somebody else is doing it for us. I see.
I'm going to digress here. This is not an apology or an excuse but I want you to know something. Some of you may take this too personally or become offended by my "manner". I chose long ago to talk to folks individually, not generally (for the most part). I was once told by a pastor, that I should not ever use the word "you" because it was too personal and might upset the hearers. Can you believe this? He said that I should apply the word "you" only to the collective, not to the single person. A pastor told me to talk around people and not to upset them. It's never going to happen with me friends, enemies. Never.
Let's get back to the path here...
Either we are a priesthood, or we are not...
We had better not be so smug and self-assured that we think we have a handle on our fight of Faith and think we can slide a little. Don't mistake sloth for vigilance. I don't abide with anybody who claims and professes the cleansing power of the Holy Ghost and then turns around and acts like they never said a word. We're either a priesthood or we are not. Don't fall back on the "work-in-progress" excuse either. The proof of our unwillingness to move up to the meat is in our excuses. Mirror, mirror in your face! Examine yourselves!
Heb 5:14 states, "But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil". It is true that the work begun in you will be finished by the "Finisher" of our Faith, Jesus Christ. Wasn't the imparting of our Faith, a finishing? Aren't the "works" of the Spirit brought forth by the Vinedresser? Why do we refuse to "exercise" our spiritual senses and be mature? It does not take a lot of "work"! Have some of us become or remained like the Corinthians to whom Paul wrote, "I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able" (1Cor 3:2). Sorry, no excuses. Are we a priesthood or are we not?
There is a curse upon the earth and it's inhabitants ARE desolate. We live in this world and upon this earth. And we should live as sojourners and visitors. No roots or ties to it. We should leave no signs of our passing, no refuse of the things of this world which we may have hidden under our tents at one time. Our folly (skirts) will be discovered in due time and we will suffer the consequences. It is too late when we discover our shipwreck AFTER we are on the rocks! Set a watch for your souls! We cannot navigate the waters of this raging sea of life without Jesus Christ who is the star we steer by.
None of us lives to himself, and no man dies to himself (Rom 14:7). We are not our own. And when you enter in at the straight gate, you have to leave everything, ...even yourself behind. So what's with the baggage?
For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away: But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you. 1Pe:1:24-25
We are withering grass and fading flowers Saints. We are a fragile, disappearing mist. This gospel, the word, is what endures and never fades away. Neither do the rewards of those who endure until the end. We covet this Hope, Saints. This is what we're given. Isn't it enough?
http://www.theremnantcafe.org/articles/witheredgrass.htm
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