The Pilgrim Path---Isaiah 2: 12—22

For the LORD of hosts has a day against all that is proud and lofty, against all that is lifted up---and it shall be brought low;

Against all the cedars of Lebanon, lofty and lifted up; and against all the oaks of Bashan; against all the lofty mountains, and against all the uplifted hills;

Against every high tower, and against every fortified wall;

Against all the ships of Tarshish, and against all the beautiful craft.

And the haughtiness of man shall be humbled, and the lofty pride of men shall be brought low, and the LORD alone will be exalted in that day.

And the idols shall utterly pass away.

And the people shall enter the caves of the rocks and the holes of the ground, from before the terror of the LORD, and from the splendor of his majesty, when he rises to terrify the earth.

In that day mankind will cast away their idols of silver and their idols of gold, which they made for themselves to worship, to the moles and to the bats, to enter the caverns of the rocks and the clefts of the cliffs, from before the terror of the LORD, and from the splendor of his majesty, when he rises to terrify the earth.

Stop regarding man in whose nostrils is breath, for of what account is he?

STOP REGARDING MAN

The leaders come. The leaders go. No matter how powerful, influential, seemingly long-lasting. All the great ones fade and leave the world. Isaiah is reminding the people of God of this solemn truth. They were supposed to be a light to the nations. They had not done a good job at that task. They would pay a price for disobedience. They were reminded that at the end of the age, the LORD would manifest Himself as the awesome One---who has no peer. The nations would cast off their puny gods and finally acknowledge the LORD---for the “real” One! In a sense, the LORD Jesus Christ at His first coming---has already shown that He is the “real” Israel: Holy and obedient. Perfect for all His Own. Defying death, hell, and the grave for them---and as Kelly Kapic says, “breathing life into them”----as the LORD of Life!

We must constantly be reminded that all these earthly leaders of “renown” merely have their breath in their nostrils. The LORD put the breath there---He may take it away at any moment.

We live in an era of superlative arrogance, carnality, and pride. Our leaders in the political realm are intoxicated with their own supposed power and invincibility. Deceit, malfeasance, and disinformation have gotten the best of us. Professing ourselves to be wise---we have become fools. We throw a little “Christianity” on top of things---and rush on in our worldliness at breakneck speed. Heaven is never fooled. As Vance Havner used to say, “We cannot really break the Ten Commandments---but we can break ourselves against them!” We’ve being doing a world-class job of that the last several years.

You might have thought with a world-wide pandemic that we would have learned a bit about humility? But we have even made a mockery of COVID-19. You might have thought a country that is over 22 Trillion dollars in debt would have begun to show some signs of brokenness? Yet, we have not really given many indications of running to the LORD. What we have seen: larger numbers running to alcohol / white supremacy groups growing / online porn growing / suicide numbers growing / conspiracy groups growing in influence / militia groups more prone to violence and vigilante behavior…

Thank God---The LORD Jesus Christ specializes in hard cases! IF the Merciful LORD of Glory changed Saul of Tarsus---He may change many of Us ---and get All the glory in doing so! LORD---Send a Revival, and Let it begin with Me!

“…if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” Second Chronicles 7: 14

“The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.” Psalm 51: 17

“I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.” John 15: 5

“Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen” Ephesians 3: 20, 21

HYMN

O breath of life, come sweeping through us,

Revive your church with life and power;

O breath of Life, come, cleanse, renew us,

And fit your church to meet this hour.

O wind of God, come bend us, break us,

Renewing thought and will and heart;

Come, Love of Christ, afresh to win us,

Revive your church in every part.

Bessie P. Head, ca. 1914

Grace and Peace in Jesus Christ Our Risen LORD, Pastor Jason