What Saith The Lord?

There are men, of whom God has sent to procure unto himself the end, unto which He hath said, My Word shall not come again unto me void, but shall accomplish the very purpose to which I sent it. These be them who obey, like this man in 1 Kings 13, in delivering the word of the LORD, in burning zeal from the beginning, and eventually come after having done so, to a halt, finding himself under an oak nearly faint from lack of food and water, from all nourishment, which one would assume in himself that after accomplishing that which was bidden him, would treat an offer by a complete stranger, whom he took at his word to be a prophet as he is, to be of God. Just because the offer had in it that which he now needs, did he not bother to confirm with the source of his own revelation, and accepted instead another's, to which he paid dearly with his own life, though he be a mighty man of God. In every instance, God's people are more in danger of being drawn from their duty by the plausible pretenses of divinity and sanctity than by our external inducements; we have therefore need to beware of false prophets, in the guise of being brethren, and not believe every spirit.

Herein we see the terrible justice and severity of God against all those who go against his commands. Even in a simple thing as taking refreshment, coming from a place totally given to heathenism and idolatry, the man of God being found faint with hunger and his guard down, did not even bother to consult the LORD who sent him in the first place, and allowed himself to be deluded by what he needed at that moment, and went back to nourish himself in a place so cursed by God. We are as messengers of the Most High, open to the wiles of what this world has to offer, should we at any moment lapse into a most miserable judgement that we could proceed even just a step forward without being sent; that we are to expect an offer of reconciliation and ceasefire from a world totally defiant to Him who is both Faithful and True.

We are not to take a step back from the mandate that is so preciously given us, even if it is from well-meaning brethren who would advise us otherwise, till we had remission of the clause from the same authority which gave us the general message. The LORD, and only the LORD,  has the authority to send us and recall us. We are to cease only from the word of the LORD to ourselves.

I write this after a discouraging statement made against me from outside my circle, that I should take another route to my call, and that it is lacking in itself until I pay heed to such advice, that to witness effectively (only if I were to apply pragmatism to this) I should be manifesting external affirmations of signs and wonders. I came from such a church, and it has since come to apostasy. If signs and wonders were the gauge of continuance, this church wouldn't have sodomite members sitting under the preaching without being convicted and using the ladies' restrooms. It is my sound judgment that it was after they have prioritized emphasis on humanism and postmodernism over prayer that a different gospel crept in undetected. Discernment left. And so did most of the congregation. So if that is their call then I desire no argument against such persons nor gifts, may the Lord lift them up further than me.

I am not a pastor, nor a preacher, nor a teacher. I am a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ. I will be faithful to that ministry which has been entrusted to me: the ministry of secret prayer. I desire no title before my name, except the word Slave, or even a most honorable title such as Servant. I desire no coat of reverence or tunic, except a sweaty shirt. I desire no outward manifestations of miracles and power, let Christ alone wield the power. I desire no applause or accolade, losing my voice the morning after I have lifted up Christ in public is well enough reward for me. Christ is the very reason for my being, the cause and end of every breath and heartbeat, the only reason why I do what I do.

Lift up Christ. Oh, lift up Christ; for I find no other meaning to life than to lift up Christ.