HIS POWER TO DELIVER

                                                   
The Assyrian army had surrounded Jerusalem. At that point, King Hezekiah  decided, "We are not going to lean on the arm of flesh this time. We are going to do it all God's way!"

The king  humbled himself and sought God in prayer: “And it came to pass,  when king Hezekiah heard it, that he rent his clothes, and covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the house of the Lord” (Isaiah 37:1). Hezekiah confessed, "Lord, I know I have nothing of myself to give You except my faith. I am helpless in my own strength to fight Sennacherib. We're surrounded by our enemies. Please, give us Your direction!"

Hezekiah knew that Isaiah would have God's word of guidance, so this time he sent his envoy to the prophet. These men said to Isaiah, "The children are come to the birth, and there is not strength to bring forth" (verse 3). In other words: "This time we want to do everything God's way but we have no strength
left. What should we do?"

Isaiah had God's word for them: "Be not afraid of the words that thou hast heard. . . . I will cause [Sennacherib] to fall by the sword" (verses 6-7). God was saying, "Any enemy of yours is an enemy of Mine now because you have turned the battle over to Me! If anyone talks against you, hurts you or abuses you, it is an attack against Me. I will take care of that enemy, whether human or demonic."

"He shall not come into this city, nor shoot an arrow there, nor come before it  with shields, nor cast a bank against it" (verse 33). God says, "Others may be falling all around you, but that doesn't mean a thing. You are walking in covenant with Me and I have promised to do battle against every enemy that assails you."

What a wonderful picture God has given of His power to deliver us from our enemies. The enemy may shoot fiery arrows at us, but they will not strike. Satan may noisily attack us with a huge army of lusts and temptations, but in the end he will turn and run. God has declared, "I will defend every child of Mine who believes in Me enough to lay down his own sword."

~David Wilkerson~

The LORD Dwelleth Not In Temples Made With Hands

Act 7:48  Howbeit the most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands; as saith the prophet 

 

Christendom is largely constituted by this sense its architecture, its ritual, its music its adornment its lighting (or lack of it), its tone its atmosphere its vestments and so forth.

ALL are of the soul.... Spiritual death marks that realm, and while there may be intense emotions which make for resolves, "high" thoughts and desires, there is no genuine change in the nature of those concerned, and repeated doses of this must be taken to maintain any measure of soul-self-satisfaction which makes them feel good.

ALL religions have this soulish feature in common, more or less, and it is here that the fatal blunder has been made by many religious people who contend that other religions, which are undoubtedly devout and sincere, should not be interfered with, but the good in them should be recognized and accepted.

It is the confusing of religion with what the Bible means by being spiritual. Religion can rise to high levels and sink to terrible depths. It is the same thing which does both. But that thing never rises above the human level; it never really reaches God.

Religion can be the greatest enemy of God's true thought, because it is Satan's best deception. Asceticism is no more truly spiritual than aestheticism. There is no more a brief with God for rigors, denials, fastings, puritanic iciness, etc., as such, than for the opposite.

Simplicity may give God a chance, but it is not necessarily spiritual. It may be a matter of taste....

How near to the truth in perception and interpretation can the mystical go! What wonderful things can the imagination see, even in the Bible! 

What thrills of awe, amazement, ecstasy, can be shot through an audience or congregation by a master soul!

But it may all be a FALSE world with NO Divine and eternal issues. It may all go to make up this life here, and relieve it of its drabness, but it ends there.

What an artificial world we live in! When the music is progressing and the romantic elements are in evidence the dress and tinsel and human personalities are parading, see how PRIDE and RIVALRY assert themselves, and what a power of make believe enters the atmosphere!

Yes, an artificial world.The tragedy in this melodrama is that it is "real life" to so many. This soul-world is the devil's imitation. It is all false, wherever we may find it, whether associated with religion or not.... 

The Christian Faith embraced as a religion, a philosophy, or as a system of truth and a moral or ethical doctrine, may carry the temporary stimulus of a great ideal; but this will not result in the regeneration of the life, or the new birth of the spirit.

There are multitudes of such Christians in the world today, but their spiritual effectiveness is nil.

~T. Austin Sparks~

Everlasting Love

                              

Jer 31:3  The LORD hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee.

I have borne with you all this time because I love you; anything could have happened to you, but I have not let it, I have shown you infinite longsuffering and patience, and earnest solicitude for your eternal well-being: because I love you, I have kept you alive, and have brought you to this time and to this place; I have not let you go. Oh, that this might come home to us!

We may, all unconsciously, be hearing this message now simply because of this infinite love of God which has been preserving us unto this hour to let us know it. You may think it is quite fortuitous that you are hearing it – just one of the chance happenings of life; but if you knew the truth it is this infinite love of God which has held you to this time in relation to the infinite purposes of that love to let you know it. 

There is nothing casual about it, there is sovereign love here. "Because I have so loved, because, self-sufficient as I am, I cannot do without you" – oh, mystery of Divine love! – because I so much wanted you I created you, and now at this moment I am drawing you.

We cannot take that in, but that is the teaching of the Word of God... God does not want that kind of love that is not love at all because it gets everything that it wants to satiate its own lusts. That is not love.

This love of God must make us like itself, it must be after its own kind. And so, strangely enough, many have come to find the love of God through the dark way of suffering – to discover that God was not their enemy but their friend, when they thought that He was pursuing with the object of destroying them....

Listen again, whoever you may be. If you know yourself only a little you must be amazed at this statement, but if it does not come to you as the most wonderful thing that ever was or could be, there is something grievously the matter with you; that such a One should say to such as WE, I have loved THEE, with an everlasting love.

May God Himself bring that home to us with something of its implication, something of its meaning and value, its glory, its wonder. If He should graciously do that, we shall be worshipers for the rest of our lives; there will be something about us that is in the nature of awe and wonder and we shall go softly.

The realization of it will smite all our pride to the dust. There is no room for pride here. This will remove all those horrible things - pride, avarice, covetousness, self-interest, worldly ambition - and we shall be very humble, very grateful people, full of a great longing somehow to requite that love, somehow to win for that One His rights.

~T. Austin Sparks~

No Compromise With The Self-Principle

                                    
Now, deep down in Saul there was the self-principle active; there is no doubt about it; and, although at times he seemed to rise above it and to have the Lord's interests at heart, that self-principle was recurrent, and when put to the final test with Amalek in I Samuel Chapter 15, we find that it asserted itself again.

That was the turning point, where the Lord rejected Saul and finally in intention passed the kingdom from him to David.

The self-principle goes too deep for the Lord to regard it lightly. 

It is not just a matter of the person. It is there that the link with an entirely antagonistic spiritual system is found. Amalek was such a link. Amalek had stood in the way of Israel when they came out of Egypt and were making for the land. They had stood across their path in the attempt to frustrate the Lord's intentions of spiritual fulness for Israel, and that very people Amalek were the test case for Saul as to whether he was really wholly set upon the Lord or whether he had personal interests.

When, through Samuel, the Lord commanded Saul to destroy every vestige of Amalek, leaving nothing alive, Saul reserved the best of the herd and the flock.

He discriminated according to human judgment, to keep something that he fancied, that he thought was good. 

He set his own judgment over against the judgment of the Lord because of this self-principle that was in him, thus proving that in principle he was one with Amalek, that is, he was not set upon all that the Lord was after. 

The Lord was seeking to bring Israel into the land, that is, to spiritual fulness. Amalek said 'No'. Saul and Amalek found themselves one in principle. He spared them.

But see what Samuel does to Agag, king of the Amalekites! - he hews him in pieces before the Lord. There is no compromise there.

~T. Austin Sparks~

It Is IMPORTANT To STAND in FAITH

                                                   
Heb. 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

Fret Not Thyself Over Evil Doers

Psa 37:7  Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass.

Psa 37:1  A Psalm of David. Fret not thyself because of evildoers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity.

Pro 24:19  Fret not thyself because of evil men, neither be thou envious at the wicked;  
                                                                      

A Conspiracy Of Interruptions

                                                    
All hell quakes at the effectual, fervent prayer of a single believer. The powerful praying of just one intercessor sounds like raging thunder in the caverns of the damned. Not one inch of space in hell remains unaffected by a believer who denies himself, takes up his cross, and follows Christ with his whole heart.

Yet, we must remember: The soul that cries out with agonizing yearnings for depth in Christ will become the central focus of Satan's conspiracy of interruptions.

A pastor wrote to me, saying, "My greatest battle is not with some secret sin of the flesh but with maintaining a consistent life of prayer and study in God's Word! Satan rarely tempts me with sexual sin, but he gets me so busy with the daily affairs of life that my times for prayer and study are crowded out. I don't allow this to happen intentionally but I get caught up in all kinds of projects and interruptions. This cycle is repeated over and over and Satan is robbing me of my time with God."

Like millions of other sincere Christians, this dear pastor is the victim of a demonic conspiracy of interruptions. And the devil's chief target in these attacks is the secret closet of prayer. So, how does the devil keep believers out of this fearsome, secret place? Does he entice with erotic images, soothing thoughts of escape through alcohol or drugs, or dreams of fame and prosperity?

No, never! The devil knows that the person in union with Christ will not be tempted by such vulgarity. Instead, the old fox seeks to interrupt and hinder a believer's every attempt to enter the presence of God and study His Word.

Communion in prayer and the study of God's Word cannot be optional. Your thought should not be merely that you ought to pray but that you cannot survive without prayer. Job declared, I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food (Job 23:12).

Only when prayer becomes important enough will you make the time to do it!

~David Wilkerson~
 

GOD WHERE ARE YOU?

                                                                                                            
One night Jacob sat in an open field and had it out (wrestled) with the Lord: "God, how did I end up in this mess? You made such great promises to me. You told me You would guide me, keep me, fulfill Your plans in me. How could any of this be Your leading? What kind of covenant walk is this? Lord, I simply have no future" (see Genesis 32:24-26).

Now, you may reason to yourself, "Maybe Jacob didn't seek God about some of the choices he made. Maybe he acted out of his flesh.” Well, perhaps he did, but all that is beside the point. God could have intervened on Jacob's behalf at any time but He did not.

The fact is, we can have a contrite spirit and still have problems. You and  your spouse may be going through a terrible trial. You have prayed, "Lord, I don't understand. I know my heart is right, and I'm walking with You, so why
are You allowing this awful trial?"

Most of us think, as Jacob did, that contrite, praying Christians should not have to endure great sorrows. We should not have to face awful times or fearful conditions in which our very future is threatened. Yet, the reality is that humble, repentant, praying Christians still suffer great peril and sorrows.

Nowhere in the Bible does God promise to keep us from problems. Never does He promise us a smooth ride in our job or career. Nor does He promise us exemption from affliction. In fact, He says: "Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the Lord delivereth him out of them all" (Psalm 34:19). This verse does not say God delivers us from afflictions, but out of them.

Paul speaks of knowing the heights and depths of God's love for him. Yet the Lord didn't keep Paul's ship from sinking. In fact, He allowed the apostle to be stoned, beaten and disgraced. Paul says he was exposed to perils on land and on sea, from robbers and from his own countrymen.

At times we may weep, wondering, "God, where are You? Why haven't You taken me out of this?" But even though the Lord allows us to go through things that try our souls, in one way or another He delivers us out of them all, just as He did Jacob and Paul.


~David Wilkerson~

Vision Of The Destruction Of America

                                                                           

My Vision of the Destruction of America By A. A. Allen July 4, 1954 Atop the Empire State Building

As I stood atop the Empire State Building, I could see the Statue of Liberty, illuminating the gateway to the new world. Here, spread before me like an animated map, is an area 60 or 80 miles in diameter. I was amazed that the Spirit of the Lord should so move me, there atop the Empire State building. Why should I feel such a surge of His Spirit and power there? 

Suddenly I heard the voice of the Lord. It was as clear and as distinct as a voice could be. It seemed to come from the very midst of the giant telescope; but when I looked at the telescope, I knew it hadn't come from there, but directly from Heaven. The voice said, 2 CHRONICLES 16:9, "For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him. Herein thou has done foolishly; therefore, from henceforth thou shalt have wars." Immediately when I heard the voice of God, I knew this was a quotation of scripture; but never before had a thing come to me so forcibly by the power of the Spirit.


The ticking of the telescope stopped. The man before me had used up his dime's worth. As he stepped away, I knew that I was next. As I stepped to the telescope and dropped in my dime, immediately the ticking started again. This ticking was an automatic clock which would allow me to use the telescope for a limited time only. As I swung the telescope to the north, suddenly the Spirit of God came upon me in a way that I had never thought of before. Seemingly, in the Spirit I was entirely caught away. I knew that the telescope itself had nothing to do with the distance which I was suddenly enabled to see, for I seemed to see things far beyond the range of the telescope, even on a bright, clear day. It was simply that God had chosen this time to reveal these things to me, for as I looked through the telescope, it was not Manhattan Island that I saw, but a far larger view.


That morning much of the view was impaired by fog; but suddenly as the Spirit of the Lord came upon me, the fog seemed to clear until it seemed that I could see for thousands of miles, but that which I was looking upon was not Manhattan Island. It was all of the North American continent spread out before me as a map is spread upon a table. It was not the East River and the Hudson River that I saw on either side, but the Atlantic and the Pacific Oceans; and instead of the Statue of Liberty standing there in the bay on her small island, I saw her standing far out in the Gulf of Mexico. She was between me and the United States. I suddenly realized that the telescope had nothing to do with what I was seeing but that it was a vision coming directly from God; and to prove this to myself, I took my eyes away from the telescope so that I was no longer looking through the lens, but the same scene remained before me.


There, clear and distinct, lay all the North American continent with all its great cities. To the north lay the Great Lakes. Far to the northeast was New York City. I could see Seattle and Portland far to the northwest. Down the west coast there were San Francisco and Los Angeles. Closer in the foreground lay New Orleans at the center of the Gulf Coast area. I could see the great towering ranges of the Rocky Mountains and trace with my eye the Continental Divide. All this and more I could see spread out before me as a great map upon a table.


As I looked, suddenly from the sky I saw a giant hand reach down. That gigantic hand was reaching out toward the Statue of Liberty. In a moment her gleaming torch was torn from her hand, and in it instead was placed a cup; and I saw protruding from that great cup a giant sword, shining as if a great light had been turned upon its glistening edge. Never before had I seen such a sharp, glistening, dangerous sword. It seemed to threaten all the world. As the great cup was placed in the hand of the Statue of Liberty, I heard these words, "Thus saith the Lord of hosts, drink ye and be drunken and spew and fall and rise no more because of the sword which I will send." As I heard these words, I recognized them as a quotation from Jeremiah 25:27. I was amazed to hear the Statue of Liberty speak out in reply, "I WILL NOT DRINK!" Then as the voice of the thunder, I heard again the voice of the Lord saying, "Ye shall certainly drink" (Jeremiah 25:28). Then suddenly the giant hand forced the cup to the lips of the Statue of Liberty, and she became powerless to defend herself. The mighty hand of God forced her to drink every drop from the cup. As she drank the bitter dregs, these were the words that I heard: "Should ye be utterly unpunished? Ye shall not be unpunished, for I will call for a sword upon all the inhabitants of the earth, saith the Lord of hosts"
(Jeremiah 27:29)


When the cup was withdrawn from the lips of the Statute of Liberty, I noticed the sword was missing from the cup, which could mean but one thing. THE CONTENTS OF THE CUP HAD BEEN COMPLETELY CONSUMED! I knew that the sword merely typified war, , and destruction, which is no doubt on the way. Then as one drunken on too much wine, I saw the Statue of Liberty become unsteady on her feet and begin to stagger and to lose her balance. I saw her splashing in the gulf, trying to regain her balance. I saw her stagger again and again and fall to her knees. As I saw her desperate attempts to regain her balance and rise to her feet again, my heart was moved as never before with compassion for her struggles; but as she staggered there in the gulf, once again I heard these words: "Drink ye and be drunken and spew and fall and rise no more because of the sword which I will send among you"
 (Jeremiah 25:37).

As I watched, I wondered if the Statue of Liberty would ever be able to regain her feet, if she would ever stand again; and as I watched, it seemed that with all her power she struggled to rise and finally staggered to her feet again and stood there swaying drunkenly. I felt sure that at any moment she would fall again, possibly never to rise. I seemed overwhelmed with a desire to reach out my hand to keep her head above water, for I knew that if she ever fell again, she would drown there in the gulf. "Thou shalt not be afraid for the by night, nor for the arrow that flyeth by day, nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness, nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday" (Psalms 91:5-6).


Then as I watched, another amazing thing was taking place. Far to the northwest, just out over Alaska, a huge, black cloud was arising. As it rose, it was as black as night. It seemed to be in the shape of a man's head. As it continued to arise, I observed two light spots in the black cloud. It rose further, and a gaping hole appeared. I could see that the black cloud was taking the shape of a skull, for now the huge, white, gaping mouth was plainly visible. Finally, the head was complete. Then the shoulders began to appear; and on either side, long, black arms.


It seemed that what I saw was the entire North American continent, spread out like a map upon a table with this terrible skeleton-formed cloud arising from behind the table. It rose steadily until the form was visible down to the waist. At the waist the skeleton seemed to bend toward the United States, stretching forth a hand toward the east and one toward the west, one toward New York and one toward Seattle. As the awful form stretched forward, I could see that its entire attention seemed to be focused upon the United States, overlooking Canada at least for the time being. As I saw the horrible black cloud in the form of a skeleton bending toward America, bending from the waist over, reaching down toward Chicago and out toward both coasts, I knew its one interest was to destroy the multitudes.

As I watched in horror, the great black cloud stopped just above the Great Lakes region and turned its face toward New York City. Then out of the horrible, great gaping mouth began to appear wisps of white vapor which looked like smoke, as a cigarette smoker would blow puffs of smoke from his mouth. These whitish vapors were being blown toward New York City. The smoke began to spread until it had covered all the eastern part of the United States. Then the skeleton turned to the west and out of the horrible mouth and nostrils came another great puff of white smoke. This time it was blown in the direction of the west coast. In a few moments' time the entire West Coast and Los Angeles area were covered with its vapors. 

Then toward the center came a third great puff. As I watched, St. Louis and Kansas City were enveloped in its white vapors. Then on they came toward New Orleans. Then on they swept until they reached the Statue of Liberty where she stood staggering drunkenly in the blue waters of the gulf. As the white vapors began to spread around the head of the statue, she took in but one gasping breath and then began to cough as though to rid her lungs of the horrible vapors she had inhaled. One could readily discern by the coughing that those white vapors had seared her lungs. What were these white vapors? Could they signify bacteriological warfare or nerve gas that could destroy multitudes of people in a few moments' time? Then I heard the voice of God as He spoke again: "Behold, the LORD maketh the earth empty and maketh it waste and turneth it upside-down and scattereth abroad the inhabitants thereof. And it shall be, as with the people, so with the priest; as with the servant, so with his master; as with the maid, so with her ; as with the buyer, so with the seller; as with the lender, so with the borrower; as with the taker of usury, so with the giver of usury to him. The land shall be utterly emptied and utterly spoiled, for the LORD hath spoken this word. The earth mourneth and fadeth away. The world languisheth and fadeth away. The haughty people of the earth do languish. The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant; therefore, hath the curse devoured the earth, and they that dwell therein are desolate; therefore, the inhabitants of the earth are burned and few men left" 
 (Isaiah 24:1-6)

As I watched, the coughing grew worse. It sounded like a person about to cough out his lungs. The Statue of Liberty was moaning and groaning. She was in mortal agony. The pain must have been terrific, as again and again she tried to clear her lungs of those horrible white vapors. I watched her there in the gulf as she staggered, clutching her lungs and her breast with her hands. Then she fell to her knees. In a moment she gave one final cough, made a last desperate effort to rise from her knees, and then fell face forward into the waters of the gulf and lay still as . Tears ran down my face as I realized that she was ! Only the lapping of the waves, splashing over her body which was partly under the water and partly out of the water, broke the stillness. 

"A fire devoureth before them, and behind them a flame burneth; the land is as the Garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness, yea, and nothing shall escape them". Screaming of Sirens Suddenly the silence was shattered by the screaming of sirens. The sirens seemed to scream, "RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!" 

Never before had I heard such shrill, screaming sirens. They seemed to be everywhere to the north, the south, the east, and the west. There seemed to be multitudes of sirens; and as I looked, I saw people everywhere running, but it seemed none of them ran more than a few paces, and then they fell. And even as I had seen the Statue of Liberty struggling to regain her poise and balance and finally falling for the last time to die on her face, I now saw millions of people falling in the streets, on the sidewalks, struggling. I heard their screams for mercy and help. I heard their horrible coughing as though their lungs had been seared with fire. I heard the moanings and groanings of the doomed and the dying. As I watched, a few finally reached shelters, but only a few ever got to the shelters. 

Above the moaning and the groaning of the dying multitudes, I heard these words: "A noise shall come even to the ends of the earth, for the Lord hath a controversy with the nations. He will plead with all flesh; he will give them that are wicked to the sword, saith the Lord. Thus saith the Lord of hosts, Behold, evil shall go forth from nation to nation, and a great whirlwind shall be raised up from the coasts of the earth, and the slain of the Lord shall be at that day from one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth. They shall not be lamented, neither gathered, nor buried; they shall be dung upon the ground" (Jeremiah 25:31-33).


Then suddenly I saw from the Atlantic and from the Pacific and out of the Gulf rocket-like objects that seemed to come up like fish leaping out of the water. High into the air they leaped, each headed in a different direction, but every one toward the United States. On the ground the sirens screamed louder, and up from the ground I saw similar rockets beginning to ascend. To me these appeared to be interceptor rockets although they arose from different points all over the United States; however, none of them seemed to be successful in intercepting the rockets that had risen from the ocean on every side. These rockets finally reached their maximum height, slowly turned over and fell back toward the earth in defeat. Then suddenly the rockets which had leaped out of the oceans like fish all exploded at once. The explosion was ear-splitting. The next thing which I saw was a huge ball of fire. The only thing I have ever seen which resembled the thing I saw in my vision was the picture of the explosion of the H-bomb somewhere in the South Pacific. In my vision it was so real that I seemed to feel a searing heat from it.


As the vision spread before my eyes and I viewed the widespread desolation brought about by the terrific explosions, I could not help thinking, While the defenders of our nation have quibbled over what means of defense to use and neglected the only true means of defense faith and dependence upon the true and living God the thing which she greatly feared has come unto her! How true it has proven in Psalms 127:1: Except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it; except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain."

Then as the noise of battle subsided, to my ears came this quotation: "Blow ye the trumpet in Zion and sound an alarm in my holy mountain; let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, for the day of the Lord cometh, for it is nigh at hand. 2. A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains, a great people and a strong, there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after it, even to the years of many generations. 3. A fire devoureth before them, and behind them a flame burneth; the land is as the Garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness, yea, and nothing shall escape them. 4. The appearance of them is as the appearance of horses; and as horsemen, so shall they run. 5. Like the noise of chariots on the tops of mountains shall they leap, like the noise of a flame of fire that devoureth the stubble, as a strong people set in battle array. 6. Before their face the people shall be much pained; all faces shall gather blackness. 7. They shall run like mighty men; they shall climb the wall like men of war, and they shall march every one on his ways, and they shall not break their ranks. 8. Neither shall one thrust another; they shall walk every one in his path; and when they fall upon the sword, they shall not be wounded. 9. They shall run to and fro in the city; they shall run upon the wall; they shall climb up upon the houses; they shall enter in at the windows like a thief. 10. The earth shall quake before them; the heavens shall tremble; the sun and the moon shall be dark,, and the stars shall withdraw their shining (Joel 2:1-10).

Then the voice was still. The earth, too was silent with the silence of . Then to my ears came another sound a sound of distant singing. It was the sweetest music I had ever heard. There was joyful shouting and sounds of happy laughter. Immediately I knew it was the rejoicing of the saints of God. I looked, and there, high in the heavens, above the smoke and poisonous gases, above the noise of the battle, I saw a huge mountain. It seemed to be of solid rock, and I knew at once that this was the Mountain of the Lord. The sounds of music and rejoicing were coming from a cleft high up in the side of the rock mountain.


It was the saints of God who were doing the rejoicing. It was God's own people who were singing and dancing and shouting with joy, safe from all the harm which had come upon the earth, for they were hidden away in the cleft of the rock. There in the cleft they were shut in, protected by a great, giant hand which reached out of the heavens and which was none other than the hand of God, shutting them in until the storm be over passed.

Vision of Jesus Christ as Sovereign Head of the Church

                                                                               

Eph 1:20  Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places,

Eph 1:21  Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come: 

Eph 2:6  And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:

Get a revelation of that to your heart by the Holy Spirit, and see its emancipating power and its sustaining power. And that is for present revelation to the heart. That is the thing which the Lord has been seeking to reveal to our hearts more and more for a long time.

The point is this, that, inasmuch as that is the side of vision presented, you and I have to seek the Lord for spiritual capacity to see it.

And that leads us to that other fragment in the same letter, from which we have just quoted: That He would grant unto you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your hearts being enlightened....

The eyes of your hearts being enlightened! That is the other side of vision.

Will you pray this for yourself? Will you pray this for all God's people?

When the Lord's people get a new spiritual Holy Ghost revelation of the Sovereign Headship of Christ, and begin to hold fast the Head, they let go of everything that is local, and personal, and different, and scattered on the earth. That is the place to which to come for unity.

We cannot be at variance with one another as the Lord's children if Christ is absolute Sovereign Head in our lives.

When the Lord Jesus gets the complete mastery as Head in our lives, then all independence of action, and life, and all self-will, self-direction, self-seeking, self-glory and self-vindication will go. These are the things which set us apart from one another.

You pass from Isaiah, and as you do so you remember that you have the results of such a vision seen in this man Isaiah. Such a vision immediately has the effect of humiliating him to the dust.

Oh, yes, we lose all our pride, all our importance when once we see the Lord in glory. "Woe is me...." That is humiliation! Then, after humiliation, there is consecration: "Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged." And, after humiliation and consecration, there comes vocation: "...who will go for Us?" "Then I said, Here am I; send me."

~T. Austin Sparks~

The Problem Of The Stone

                                                         

Mar 16:4  And when they looked, they saw that the stone was rolled away: for it was very great.
 

Mar 16:5  And entering into the sepulchre, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, clothed in a long white garment; and they were affrighted.
 

When the Lord moves for His own Son's sake, and has those interests governing, and when those interests have brought us into such a relationship with Him that we can say there is no stone so big to be removed, no problem so great for solving, no difficulty so intense, but the Lord will do what is necessary for His Son's sake.

When we have come to a position like that the Lord is free to do a lot of things very quietly. As we say, they just "happen." Ah, but they have been the objects of the exercise of exceeding great power.

There was a great earthquake (Matt. 28:2). But here, in this aspect of the situation, it does not seem to be an earthquake at all. It has just happened. We must recognize that there is an aspect of activities in which the secret, quiet working of His immense power dismisses the greatest difficulties as though they had never existed.

Sometimes He may bring us into the presence of the working of His power that is manifestly terrific, but not often and certainly not always. For faith it is more like this: there is such power at work as to make possible the setting aside of the obstacle very quietly, so that we afterward wonder

And they were amazed. And the angel said, Be not amazed. It is good to have amazement, but let us recognize that a certain amount of our amazement is because we have not sufficient faith.

~T. Austin Sparks~

Self ~Denial And True~Repentance

                                                                            

Repentance means more than saying, "Lord, I am wrong." It also means saying,"Lord, You are right!"

Repentance means facing the truth about your sin — the truth that it must end now. It is a crisis moment of truth, a place of recognition where you admit, "I cannot continue in my sin and have the Holy Ghost living in me. If I do, I will lose everything. Lord, You're right about sin bringing death upon me. I see that
if I continue in it, it's going to destroy me and my family. God, I make no more excuses."

Simply put, repentance is a confrontation with your sin. The battle is fought before you get to the cross~it takes place as the Holy Spirit deals with you.

The same is true of self-denial. In short, self-denial is a confrontation that  says, "Sin ends now at this point!" Contrary to what many "comfort preachers" say, self-denial is not some heartache you have to bear, or some infirmity of your flesh. When Paul said, "I die daily," he meant simply, "I have to deny that I can continue in sin and still have Christ's favor. I don't
have a special dispensation from God to hold on to a pet sin just because I do good works. No! I agree with the Word of God and I deny all my rights to continue in sin."

The glorious truth of the gospel is that if we die with Jesus, we also come into the glory of His resurrection and into newness of life. His cross is our cross, His death is our death, and His resurrection is our resurrection, through our identification and union with Him. That is the real cross we bear.

Yet this is the cross that many so-called ministers of the gospel have done away with. The real cross is not about lovely words describing our Savior's suffering and bleeding on Calvary. No, the true meaning of the cross is that Jesus bled and died to bring our sin-sick souls into glorious liberty and freedom
To break every chain of sin that binds us.
 ~David Wilkerson~

CONFRONTATION Of The CROSS

Let me show you what I mean by the confrontation of the cross.

Consider a man who is fed up with his sinful habit yet he continually falls deeper into its clutches. He has promised himself a hundred times he will never do it again - and, for a while, he submerges the temptation and enjoys a measure of freedom. But later it comes back with greater force.

This man has covered up his sin, lied about it, cheated because
of it - and it has brought him great sorrow. He no longer enjoys
it, but he can't quit. He just keeps going back.

The man knows he will have to stand at the judgment seat one
day and he goes through life fearing exposure and scandal. His
sin has drained him, shackled him, deceived him. It has brought
him down to a weariness in which he can hardly exist - he's at
the end of his rope.

In this sad, weary, worn-out state, the Holy Spirit brings the man this word: "There is a way out for you. There is a place of victory, peace, joy, newness of life. Accept Christ's call to run to Him and find rest. Go to the cross of Jesus Christ."

Beloved, when you kneel at the cross, you will not hear an easy,
soft word, at least not at first. Even though the cross is the only
door to life, you are going to hear about death - death to every sin.

At the cross, you face the crisis of your life and that is what is
missing in so many churches. The preaching of the cross brings
about a crisis of sin, of self-will. It will speak to you with loving,
but firm, words about the consequences of continuing in your sin:

Deny yourself. Embrace the death of the cross. Follow Me!

And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me (Lk 9:23).

~David Wilkerson~

GOD Ran Out Of Patience With Them

Israel refused to believe God's message about how precious they were in his eyes. Instead, they preferred to focus on their condition their problems,weaknesses and inabilities and they gave in to their fears.

After a time, God ran out of patience with them, saying to Moses: "How long will this people provoke me? And how long will it be ere they believe me, for all the signs which I have showed among them? I will smite them . . . and disinherit them" (Numbers 14:11-12).

The Lord forgave Israel for Moses' sake but they were not permitted to enter into the Promised Land. Instead, they were assigned a wilderness existence, a life given over to constant fear and destructive doubts. They were forgiven but miserable! They had lost the hope, rest and peace that come from accepting and believing how special God's children are to Him.

Beloved, the only time God's patience runs out with us is when we refuse again and again to accept how much He loves us and wants to see us through our battles. Indeed, many Christians today have been turned back into a wilderness of their own making. They have no joy, no victory. To look at them, you'd think God had forsaken them years ago when actually He has just turned them over to their own complaining and murmuring.

Thank God, Joshua and Caleb entered into the Promised Land. And what joy they had! God blessed them incredibly and they stood as green trees in His house until their dying days. They were men of power and vision because they knew they were precious to God.

You also are precious to the Lord, in spite of all your problems and failures. No matter what your trials or struggles, you can be a green tree in God's house, just as Joshua and Caleb were. Simply stand on what His Word promises:"He brought me forth also into a large place; he delivered me, because he delighted in me" (Psalms 18:19). That is the foundation of true faith.
~David Wilkerson~