Monday, February 11,
2013, 5:25 a.m. – the Lord Jesus woke me with this song “He Keeps Me Singing” playing in my
mind, and that was quickly followed by the song “Then Will the Very Rocks Cry Out,” which was followed by “With Eternity’s Values in View.” Speak,
Lord, for your servant is listening. I read Isaiah 62 (NIV 1984):
For Zion’s sake I will
not keep silent,
for Jerusalem’s sake I will not remain
quiet,
till her righteousness
shines out like the dawn,
her salvation like a blazing torch.
The nations will see
your righteousness,
and all kings your glory;
you will be called by
a new name
that the mouth of the Lord will bestow.
You will be a crown of
splendor in the Lord’s hand,
a royal diadem in the hand of your God.
No longer will they
call you Deserted,
or name your land Desolate.
But you will be called
Hephzibah,
and your land Beulah;
for the Lord will take
delight in you,
and your land will be married.
As a young man marries
a maiden,
so will your sons marry you;
as a bridegroom
rejoices over his bride,
so will your God rejoice over you.
I have posted watchmen
on your walls, O Jerusalem;
they will never be silent day or night.
You who call on the
Lord,
give yourselves no rest,
and give him no rest
till he establishes Jerusalem
and makes her the praise of the earth.
…
Pass through, pass
through the gates!
Prepare the way for the people.
Build up, build up the
highway!
Remove the stones.
Raise a banner for the
nations.
The Lord has made
proclamation
to the ends of the earth:
“Say to the Daughter
of Zion,
‘See, your Savior comes!
See, his reward is
with him,
and his recompense accompanies him.’”
They will be called
the Holy People,
the Redeemed of the Lord;
and you will be called
Sought After,
the City No Longer Deserted.
In a Nutshell
In a nutshell, this prophecy of Isaiah’s, much like most in
the book of Isaiah, is concerning the messianic kingdom, the time of God’s
judgments at the end of time, God’s concern for the church (see Rev. 2-3), i.e.
the Zion/Jerusalem of the last days, his plan to revive her, restore her and to
rebuild her to what she was supposed to be, the prayers for and the messages to
the church of the last days by the godly who weep and who grieve over the
spiritual downfall of the church, God’s saving grace, the call to repentance,
the salvation of people from the nations of the earth in response to the church
revived, and the Lord’s soon return both as Judge and as Savior of his people
to reward or to punish those who lived on the earth, and to take his loved ones
to be with him forever, finally at home with their Lord.
Not Quiet
Isaiah prophesied much against the sinful and unspiritual
condition of God’s people of the last days, i.e. the church. He described the
church of the last days as adulterous, idolatrous, rebellious, deaf and blind,
mute, unwilling to listen to God, to his messages or to his messengers;
unrepentant, having a form of godliness but not living godly lives, and going
through the motions of religious activity but not really paying any attention
to God, and definitely not following his commands. Yet, Isaiah called for
repentance, and he also prophesied hope for the penitent, the humble and
contrite of heart - that they would be revived, restored and rebuilt into God’s
holy people.
There are many today who do not see the spiritual downfall
of the church at all. They are completely blinded to it. Then there are those
who see the adulterous and idolatrous ways of today’s church, in particular
here in America (I’m not knowledgeable of other nations), and they may even
speak out in criticism against the church and will point out her faults, yet
they don’t call for repentance, and they don’t pray believing God for revival,
because they don’t really believe God is going to revive and restore his church.
Some of those may even wish the fallen church would get its just rewards, hope
they are not revived, or else they just don’t care, because they are a part of
the fallen church, and may not even see it.
Yet, there are those, like Isaiah, who have the heart of God
in that they do pray, and they do speak out because they believe God is going
to revive his church, he is going to restore her, and he is going to rebuild
her to what she was designed to be, and so they will not keep silent, and they
will not remain quiet until her (the church’s) righteousness shines out (shows
forth) like the dawn of a new day, and her salvation beams from her like a
blazing torch. They are the spiritual watchmen and women of today who plead
with God to send revival, believing God will answer, and that he has promised
revival of the church. They call for repentance, and they give messages of hope
and healing for the repentant.
They are those who have personally experienced God’s grace
and know the joy of deliverance from bondage to sin, who have called out to God
for mercy, and he answered, and so they are passionately concerned for the
church to be revived. In fact, they grieve over the spiritual condition of
today’s church. They are those who love Jesus with a passionate love and an
ardent commitment to their Lord and Savior Jesus Christ; who shout and sing of
the love, grace and goodness of our Lord, and of his salvation; who know if
they keep silent, the rocks will cry out; and who understand that we should all
do each day’s work for Jesus with eternity’s values in view, understanding that
time is short.
Shines like the Dawn
The present condition of the church in America, overall,
though not speaking of everyone in the church, expresses itself in complacency,
self-gratification, an entitlement mindset, a watered down (diluted) gospel,
which is no gospel at all, rebellion, a market place for marketing the church
like big business, entertainment over holiness, manipulations, deception, lies,
betrayal, false hope, a false perception of God and his grace, teachings of men
over teachings of scripture, plans of men implemented over God’s plans and
purposes for his church, et al. Many are blinded to the truth. Countless
professing believers in Jesus live for self pleasure. Many give little time, acknowledgement
or thought to God and to his plans and purposes for our lives. And, numerous professing
followers of Christ think that God’s grace means they can continue in sin and
that grace covers it all.
God has poured out his messages into the hearts of his
people, but most are not getting it, they are not listening, and/or they are
not heeding God’s warnings and his commands. He wants nothing more than to
gather us in his arms as a mother hen would gather her chicks, but so many are
not willing, because they want to plan out their own lives and live how they
want to please themselves and yet still hold on to God for when they need him.
So, God, who is righteous, loving, and just will send his judgments upon his
adulterous and idolatrous church so that she will turn from her sin, and so she
will turn to her God to follow him all her days, and when she does, her
righteousness (Christ’s righteousness within her) will then shine out like the
dawn, and her salvation like a blazing torch, because she will not be able to
hold it inside, and she will do each day’s work for Jesus with eternity’s
values in view.
When the church is revived, the nations will notice. Isaiah
spoke much about the church (Zion/Israel/Jerusalem) of the last days being
revived and, as a result, the nations flocking to faith in Jesus Christ (to
Zion; to the mountain of the Lord) and to his gospel, i.e. to the cross of
Christ, death to sin, and new life in Christ Jesus - committed to obedience to
his commands and to living holy lives, pleasing to God. Then the church will no
longer be estranged from her husband, Jesus Christ, but the Lord will delight
in her, and she will delight in her husband, Jesus Christ. Oh, what a wonderful
day that will be! This hope is what keeps me going, and it is what drives me to
continue to do what I do each day, in addition to my love for my Lord and my
desire to obey him in all things.
The Watchmen
The Lord has posted watchmen for the church to warn her of
danger, to watch and wait for good news, to lead her on the right path, to pray
for her safety, protection and renewed faith and trust in her Lord, to pray and
to believe God that he will revive her, restore her and rebuild her as his holy
people, and to not keep silent until they see the fulfillment of these
prophecies of scripture with regard to the revival of the church and the salvation
of souls in the last days that God has promised through his prophets of old.
Some of those watchmen, though, have been derelict of duty,
have deserted their posts, and have left the sheep vulnerable to attack, and to
the deception of false shepherds of the people who teach a false gospel (wolves
in sheep’s clothing) – see John 10; Ezekiel 34; & Jude. The sheep may have
even pleaded with their watchmen for help, but the watchmen do not reply. They
are gone! So, the sheep themselves have called on their God to save them, and many
of them are the ones who give ourselves no rest, and give God no rest (i.e.
continue in prayer) till God revives his church, restores her, rebuilds her,
makes her righteousness shine out like the dawn, and she becomes the praise of
the earth. Amen!
These are those who prepare the way for the Lord’s return by
calling for repentance, by exposing forces of evil that are coming against the
church so that the church is not deceived - is not led into a trap - and by
praying for the church to have her eyes opened, her ears unstopped, to come
humbly before God in repentance and true faith in Jesus Christ, and to be restored,
renewed and rebuilt to what God intended her to be. Part of this preparation is
via addressing roadblocks or obstacles (sins in the church) to obedience to
Jesus Christ, so the church can be aware of her need for revival, and so she
will call on God in repentance. John the Baptist was called to do this to
prepare the way for Christ’s first coming. I believe God has called godly men
and women who call on him in truth to prepare the way for Christ’s return via
being his watchmen and women to get God’s people ready for their Lord.
Sing Praises / An
Original Work / November 30, 2012
Based off Psalms 6-9
Sing praises to the
Lord!
Tell of His wondrous
works.
Afflicted, they cry
out;
The Lord will not
forget;
The needy, not desert.
The Lord’s our refuge
now;
A stronghold when we fear.
The Lord will ne’er
forsake
The ones, who Him
pursue!
Sing praises to the
Lord!
With all my heart I
sing.
I will rejoice in Him;
Sing praises to His
name;
Tell of His wondrous
works.
My shield is God Most
High.
He saves those who
believe
In Jesus Christ, God’s
Son.
His grace has pardoned
you!
The Lord accepts my
prayer!
The Lord has heard my
cries.
He is so merciful.
He heals my anguished
soul.
The Lord has made me
whole.
Give thanks unto the
Lord.
Give praise unto His
name.
Our Lord is righteousness.
Sing praises to the
Lord!
Sing praises to the
Lord!
Then Will the
Very Rocks Cry Out (If We Keep Our Voices Silent) / Mark Hayes
Based off Luke
19:37-40
If we keep our
voices silent, all creation will rise and shout.
If we fail to
praise you, Father, then will the very rocks cry out!
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