TEXT FOR PRAYER

The Truth Shall Make You Free

 I shall read from “The Mount of Blessing,” page 186, paragraphs one and two. These paragraphs, you will notice, are based on the scripture which says, “Give not that which is holy unto the dogs.”

 M.B., pg. 186 – “Jesus here refers to a class who have no desire to escape from the slavery of sin. By indulgence in the corrupt and vile, their natures have become so degraded that they cling to the evil, and will not be separated from it. The servants of Christ should not allow themselves to be hindered by those who would make the gospel only a matter of contention and ridicule.

 “But the Saviour never passed by one soul, however sunken in sin, who was willing to receive the precious truths of heaven. To publicans and harlots His words were the beginning of a new life.... Beneath an appearance of hatred and contempt, even beneath crime and degradation, may be hidden a soul that the grace of Christ will rescue, to shine as a jewel in the Redeemer’s crown.”

 Here we see that in His statement, “Give not that which is holy unto the dogs,” Christ instructs His followers to abstain from trying to poke down any Bible truth into those who have no desire to be freed from sin. Regardless how far one may have fallen in sin, God will not overlook even one soul who is willing to be helped, and willing to accept and practice the Truth. With this assurance, let us pray for an increased desire to escape from slavery of sin. Indeed the important thing is not how good or how bad we are or have been, but how susceptible and submissive to present Truth we are now while It unfolds. The real burden of our prayer, should be that we catch a vision of the Truth that makes free if accepted as the Scroll unrolls.

 Now let us begin our study with–

 Micah 7:1 – “Woe is me! for I am as when they have gathered the summer fruits, as the grape gleanings of the vintage: there is no cluster to eat: my soul desired the firstripe fruit.”

 Something is likened to a vintage after its fruit is gathered in. What is it? We will find the answer by reading–

 Verses 2-6 – “The good man is perished out of the earth: and there is none upright among men: they all lie in wait for blood; they hunt every man his brother with a net. That they may do evil with both hands earnestly, the prince asketh, and the judge asketh for a reward; and the great man, he uttereth his mischievous desire: so they wrap it up. The best of them is as a brier: the most upright is sharper than a thorn hedge: the day of thy watchmen and thy visitation cometh; now shall be their perplexity. Trust ye not in a friend, put ye not confidence in a guide: keep the doors of thy mouth from her that lieth in thy bosom.”

 The righteous having been taken out of the world and the wicked alone left in it, its condition is depicted by a vintage that has been robbed of its fruit and left in a state of loneliness and fear because of total wickedness. This sifting takes place in the day God visits His watchmen; that is, in the Judgment day, the day He separates the “wheat” from the tares (Matt. 13:30), the good fish from the bad fish (Matt. 13:47, 48) the sheep from the goats (Matt. 25:31-46).

 Verses 7-10 – “Therefore I will look unto the Lord; I will wait for the God of my salvation: my God will hear me. Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy: when I fall, I shall arise; when I sit in darkness, the Lord shall be a light unto me. I will bear the indignation of the Lord, because I have sinned against Him, until He plead my cause, and execute judgment for me: He will bring me forth to the light, and I shall behold His righteousness. Then she that is mine enemy shall see it, and shame shall cover her which said unto me, Where is the Lord thy God? Mine eyes shall behold her: now shall she be trodden down as the mire of the streets.”

 These verses present God’s faithful people, the people to whom these prophecies have been unfolded as having an enemy that bears the feminine designation “she.” This “she” questions and doubts God’s presence among His people, she mocks them for their faith.

 Since these prophecies are now for the first time brought to light they constitute the message of the hour; and since upon us has been placed the burden of carrying the message to the church, and since she is our enemy as was the Jewish church to the Christian, Inspiration thus bears witness against her, and pronounces her doom.

 Then it shall come to pass that “the Gentiles shall see” the saints’ righteousness and all kings their glory and they as a people shall “be called by a new name, which the mouth of the Lord shall name.” Isa. 62:2.

 Verses 11, 12 – “In the day that thy walls are to be built, in that day shall the decree be far removed. In that day also he shall come even to thee from Assyria, and from the fortified cities, and from the fortress even to the river, and from sea to sea, and from mountain to mountain.”

 Since this decree is removed in the day the Kingdom (the church purified) is restored, in the day the saints are fortified, the decree has no effect on them. In that day, declares Inspiration, there shall be a great gathering from Assyria and from the fortified cities, even from sea to sea and mountain to mountain. This message, therefore, is the one that precedes the harvest of the earth, the great and dreadful day of the Lord, the Judgment for the Living, the day in which all things are to be restored (Mark 9:12).

 Verses 13, 14 – “Notwithstanding the land shall be desolate because of them that dwell therein, for the fruit of their doings. Feed thy people with thy rod, the flock of thine heritage, which dwell solitarily in the wood, in the midst of Carmel: let them feed in Bashan and Gilead, as in the days of old.”

 Before these promises are fulfilled, though, Inspiration declared the land was to be desolate, the dispersion of the people would first take place.

 This Rod of God not only speaks, but It feeds, too. And what can It be if not “meat in due season”? if not the message of the hour? The people, explains the scripture, are those who dwell solitarily in the woods, in the midst of Carmel. Prophecy, for this day and hour recommends the message which the Rod contains, and which Carmel puts out, none other.

 Verse 15 – “According to the days of thy coming out of the land of Egypt will I shew unto him marvellous things.”

 We are given the promise that the saints’ experience is to be similar to that of the Exodus movement; that is, just as they were led out of Egypt by the mighty hand of God, and were brought safely into the promised land, so shall it be now.

 “And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set His hand again the second time to recover the remnant of His people, which shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea. And He shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth.” Isa. 11:11, 12.

 Verses 16-18 – “The nations shall see and be confounded at all their might: they shall lay their hand upon their mouth, their ears shall be deaf.

 “They shall lick the dust like a serpent, they shall move out of their holes like worms of the earth: they shall be afraid of the Lord our God, and shall fear because of Thee. Who is a God like unto Thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of His heritage? He retaineth not His anger for ever, because He delighteth in mercy.”

 “The envy also of Ephraim shall depart, and the adversaries of Judah shall be cut off: Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall not vex Ephraim. But they shall fly upon the shoulders of the Philistines toward the west; they shall spoil them of the east together: they shall lay their hand upon Edom and Moab; and the children of Ammon shall obey them. And the Lord shall utterly destroy the tongue of the Egyptian sea; and with His mighty wind shall He shake His hand over the river, and shall smite it in the seven streams, and make men go over dryshod.” Isa. 11:13-15.

 As great as shall be the day of the Lord for the faithful, just that dreadful will it be for the unfaithful.

 Verse 19 – “He will turn again, He will have compassion upon us; He will subdue our iniquities; and Thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.”

 Our God is wonderful indeed! He retains not His anger. He delights in mercy. He remembers not the sins of the penitent, He casts them away where they cannot be found anymore.

 Verse 20 – “Thou wilt perform the Truth to Jacob, and the mercy to Abraham, which Thou hast sworn unto our fathers from the days of old.”

 Inspiration reaffirms all God’s promises. They never fail. His prophecies are sure. We are on the threshold of a new world in the sight of the old – soon there shall be sin no more.

 “Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve Him day and night in His temple: and He that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat. For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.” Rev. 7:15-17.

 Even now, says the Lord, “I have set watchmen upon thy walls, O Jerusalem, which shall never hold their peace day nor night: ye that make mention of the Lord, keep not silence, and give Him no rest, till He establish, and till He make Jerusalem a praise in the earth.

 “The Lord hath sworn by His right hand, and by the arm of His strength, Surely I will no more give thy corn to be meat for thine enemies; and the sons of the stranger shall not drink thy wine, for the which thou hast laboured:

 “But they that have gathered it shall eat it, and praise the Lord; and they that have brought it together shall drink it in the courts of My holiness. Go through, go through the gates; prepare ye the way of the people; cast up, cast up the highway; gather out the stones; lift up a standard for the people.

 “Behold, the Lord hath proclaimed unto the end of the world, Say ye to the daughter of Zion, Behold, thy salvation cometh; behold, His reward is with Him, and His work before Him. And they shall call them, The holy people, The redeemed of the Lord: and thou shalt be called, Sought out, A city not forsaken.” Isa. 62:6-12.

 We are indeed at the threshold of this new world in sight of the old. Let our works and faith now answer the Lord’s most astounding questions since the world began:

 “Behold, I will send My messenger, and he shall prepare the way before Me: and the Lord, Whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to His temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the Lord of hosts.

 “But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiner’s fire, and like fullers’ sope: and he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness.

 “Then shall the offering of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant unto the Lord, as in the days of old, and as in former years. And I will come near to you to judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against false swearers, and against those that oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and that turn aside the stranger from his right, and fear not Me, saith the Lord of hosts. For I am the Lord, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.” Mal. 3:1-6.