All scripture references are from the NASV unless otherwise noted.
As we continue to look at the steps of the faith of our father Abraham, we come to the crux of the whole issue; the very secret of eternal life. If you remember, in the introduction to this series, I told of how I have lived two separate Christian lives, and have experienced first hand the power of both; the Christianity that doesn't work, with its watered down and distorted gospel, and the Christianity that truly works. Today, as I often do lately, I sat with Tanya on the couch with tears streaming down my face as I told her that I feel that I have discovered a great hidden treasure that is the very hope for the world as well as the church, something vast and powerful enough to heal the hurt of the daughter of my people for whom I am so hurt (Jer 8:21, 22). I feel that I've just uncovered a tiny section of this great treasure as my hand has brushed away the sediment of ages past, yet I feel unable to unearth this great treasure that is the hope for all mankind, as well as the balm for the wound of the daughter of my people. I have found for myself, yet feel unable to unearth for you, and hence, the tears.
So many of you are so broken and wounded, so full of spiritual sickness, like a strong and healthy man who reports for his long overdue physical, only to find that the cancer that has grown and spread undetected deep within his organs and bones suddenly threatens to take his life. The cancer wasn't sudden at all, but developed over time hidden by his feelings of strength and health. His sickness and ensuing death only seemed sudden, for his outward health deceived him. So many of you are deathly ill (spiritually speaking), yet know it not, and it is for your wounds that I am wounded. Like the deceived man, you have seen small indicators that something is not right, but because of your deep-seeded belief in your own health, you have not recognized the little indicators of serious disease. Only when it's too late and your outward strength is consumed by your inward disease will you see the awful truth. Only when it's too late, will many of you find that the spiritual foundation upon which you've built is only shifting sand, and that you really don't have a house that will stand when the flood waters rise.
"At that time," declares the Lord , "they will bring out the bones of the kings of Judah and the bones of its princes, and the bones of the priests and the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the inhabitants of Jerusalem from their graves. ...They will not be gathered or buried; they will be as dung on the face of the ground. (Jer. 8:1, 2b). Hurricane Katrina was the perfect picture of what is coming to the church. Just as the floodwaters of Katrina swept over "The Big Easy", the "city that care forgot", unearthing from shallow graves and above ground sepulchers the bones of those long since past, so, the waters of the coming spiritual flood will uncover the dead men's bones resident in a people who honor God with their lips, yet have hearts far from God. Just as Katrina's waters uncovered the toxic waste and the sewage that flowed just below the streets of New Orleans, so the waters of this spiritual storm will uncover the filth that flows hidden just below the surface of Christendom, the carefree city that dwells at ease, the city that says, "I am, and there is no one else besides me; I shall not sit as a widow, Nor shall I know the loss of children" (Is. 47:8, Zep. 2:15 NKJV).
Every few months a new Christian book comes out promising the key to what's lacking in your life. Every so often the church runs after some new message or method brought by those who have "healed the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly", and every year we must say, "The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved." Brothers and Sisters, for the hurt of the daughter of my people I am hurt; I am black; astonishment hath taken hold on me. Is there no balm in Gilead; is there no physician there? Why then is not the health of the daughter of my people recovered? I know that there is a balm and a physician, yet I find myself unable to bring this balm to you, or to bring you to this physician, and hence, my tears, my astonishment, my blackness. I have found by His grace alone the doorway to the revelation of God that is Jesus' definition of eternal life, yet, I find that I don't know how to bring you into the same experience. I am perplexed. I am pressed. I'm caught between a rock and a hard place!
What is this doorway - this secret? It's nothing new. I've written and spoken on it many times. It could easily be my life message. I would speak or write on nothing else. Paul said, "I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified" (1 Cor. 2:2). The message of the cross is the power of God. The doorway of which I speak is the revelation of the cross of Jesus Christ. It is the power of God for us who are being saved. It is the doorway, the narrow gate that leads to all further revelation of God, yea, to eternal life. Without it, there is no true conversion for without it, there is no true surrender to Christ. This is what makes a bondservant. This is the only gate through the wall that holds countless millions of Christians out of the Promised Land. It is the gate to the one and only path that leads to eternal life.
Thus says the Lord, "Stand by the ways and see and ask for the ancient paths, Where the good way is, and walk in it; and you will find rest for your souls" (Jer. 6:16). There are no new ways. All this talk of the prophetic and apostolic; all the new revelation; none of it will profit God's people at all until we return to the "weightier matters of the law"; until we stand at the cross roads and ask for the ancient path, the old way, the only way that worked from the beginning and still works today. Brothers, I would know nothing among you except Jesus, and Him crucified.
I'm standing at your crossroads, holding up a sign saying look for the ancient path, the proven path, the only path that leads to the rest that God promises His people. For My people have forgotten Me. They burn incense to worthless gods And they have stumbled from their ways, From the ancient paths, To walk in bypaths, Not on a highway (Jer. 18:15).
In coming articles, I want to uncover for you the truths of the revelation of the cross, and of the work of the law that precedes it. However, I long for you to find the experience that I have found. You have to experience God. You have to find God for yourself. You have to have the revelation of God. No man can impart anything of any eternal value to you simply by transferring truths from his head to yours. The knowledge that myself, or anyone else would give to you of God's ways are only valuable insomuch as they are signposts for you on your journey to know God for yourself. They only profit you insomuch as they awaken a hunger in you, or shine light in your spirit to help direct you in the right direction, but are no end in themselves. He is the end. He is the goal, the pearl of great price, the treasure hidden in a field.
How am I constrained until Christ be formed in you. Astonishment has taken hold of me. How can I help you? How do I get the balm to you or get you to the physician? I am in a quandary. I am perplexed. I am hard pressed and hurt for the hurt of the daughter of my people. My dilemma is this: I have had the revelation of the cross of Jesus, and that revelation so revolutionized my life, that I am convinced that it is the one great need of the church in this or any age. But, alas, to many of you, the cross of Jesus Christ is just a word or a religious symbol. Jesus, how can I bring your people to an experience they don't yet know that they need? "I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified" (1 Cor. 2:2). "For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved [present ongoing] it is the power of God" (1 Cor. 1:18 NKJV).
In this hour of restoration, God is about to restore what has been lost to a people of God in "exile", and that wonderful restoration is so beautifully typified for us by Elijah's great victory on Mount Carmel. We see in Elijah's actions the steps to restoration, and the first thing Elijah did was to repair "the altar of the Lord which had been torn down" (1 Kings 18:30). Elijah rebuilt the old altar that was broken down. There will be no further progress for the people of God until the original altar, the cross, is rebuilt. First came the rebuilding of the old altar, which speaks of the revelation and the message of the cross. Then Elijah laid the sacrifice upon the wood. This speaks of the work of the cross. Then came the drenching waters of God's outpouring, and finally, came the fire of God on a well pleasing sacrifice of love and surrender.
We read in the book of Ezra of the restoration of God's house and of God's people, and the very first thing that the Israelites returning to the Promised Land from a land of exile did was to rebuild the brazen altar (Ezra 3:2). The cross is what God is seeking to restore to His people in this hour of restoration - first the revelation of the cross, and eventually the work of the cross.
I see it in scripture from cover to cover. Everywhere I look in the scripture I see the message of the cross. Every where I look as I examine the broken walls and burned gates of a wounded people, I see the need for the revelation of the cross. My determination is to rebuild the brazen altar. I hear a cry deep within me for restoration, and the rebuilding of the "old altar that's broken down" is becoming my obsession, my passion, my purpose and my message. You don't need another book, another seminar, another conference, or another sermon! You need a revelation of the cross of Jesus Christ!
Father, in the name of Jesus, please bring the revelation of the cross to your people. Please heal the hurt of the daughter of my people. Please restore the old altar, and please help your people to seek and ask for the ancient paths.
More on the revelation of the cross in the next article.
The True Gospel Series