ISAIAH 55:7 - "Nothing New Under The Sun"

"Then said He unto me, Son of man, hast thou seen what the ancients of the house of Israel do in the dark, every man in the chamber of his imagery? For they say, The Lord seeth us not; The Lord hath forsaken the earth." (Ezekiel 8:12) This verse is a portion of the vision that God had given Ezekiel; in chapter 8 God takes him in the Spirit throughout the land, and in the verse above he is shown within the Temple walls; he is actually viewing through the wall of the Temple. As he looks in, he is seeing servants of God; men who were called to be serving God, in the Temple of God, viewing all sorts of abominable things which were portrayed on the walls all around them. These servants of God actually were serving God while they were doing these things; verse 11 says: "with every man his censer in hand; and a thick cloud of incense went up." Actually standing, or sitting in the smoke of the incense being burnt for God, and committing abominations right before God!!! This word abominations , is a pretty heavy word. It is the word 'Toevah', which means: something that is morally disgusting. Besides things which belong to the worship of idols, it is also used in connection with homosexuality, pornography, and all other type of strange perversions. Okay, I know I have done some pretty stupid things, and have played the fool more than once or twice, but for the life of me, I can not imagine myself doing anything actually in the church, actually within the walls of the church building; it just seems so wrong to even think about it. There are two things that I have always held up to be anointed of God, and that should be protected and kept from harm: the place were God's people come together for fellowship, and the Pastor that God has anointed to serve them; these two things I believe need to be and are sanctified; at least in my mind they are. But, I mean come on, actually doing abominable things right in the Temple of God; however, if you really think about it, we have done just that! Remember, when you have the Holy Spirit dwelling within you, you are in fact a Temple of God; so really, what is the difference? If you notice what God has said that these servants say: "The Lord seeth us not; The Lord hath forsaken the earth". This is what I was trying to say, and that I believe the writer of Hebrews was saying in Hebrews 3:12, "An evil heart of unbelief"; because how can we believe God is what He is, and then say that He does not see what we do, or know what we are thinking. How can we proclaim from our hearts that God is love, and that He loves the world enough to die on the cross for it; and yet also believe that He has forsaken the world. I mean, try and reason this thing with me; How can a man or woman of God actually walk in faith, if the faith that they walk in can be turned off and on, as if it were a light switch; What kind of faith is that? Where is the power? Where is the King of Glory being portrayed in that life style? He is not! The bottom line is this: I firmly believe that this sinfulness is the fruit of something that stems from that simple little act of saying ' no' to the Holy Spirit. That's Right! Forget about what has become, and get back to what should be; and that is yielding to the Holy Spirit. When we finally get this right, things will be a whole lot more gloriful within the church. It is not the things we do that are the root of the problem, it is the things that we do not. Which is also the reason for the opening of this chapter in Isaiah, and what I believe God is saying there: "Wherefore do you spend money for that which is not bread? And your labour for that which satisfieth not?" Really! 'Let the dead bury their dead'; we need to be about the Father's business; and then in doing so, all that other stuff will be left where it belongs, in the fire. It really comes down to what we are to be focused upon: Should we focus on not committing sin and those things that cause us to stumble; or should we focus on the things of God, and those things that are to be glorified, which includes ourselves. Which of the two require more of our attention? Which one deserves more of our attention? If you say it is the sinfulness, you need to get your head out of the gutter, because Jesus dealt with that on the cross. No, it is the things that are done for Him that require our undivided attention, because those are the things that shall not be burnt up; those things that we do for ourselves, for our pleasure, and if we are not careful, even ourselves, will be burnt in the fire. All sinfulness and evil will be judged and burnt in the fire, so why waste any time at all on that stuff; "Why spend money on that which is not bread?"; why waste even a little of what little time you have on giving life to dead bones; just '1 John 1:9' that stuff, believe it, and then move on in the Power of the Holy Spirit. "Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and He will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon." (Isaiah 55:7) Father God; help us to move past trying to deal with those things that are behind us, and to press forward unto the things that are ahead. In the name of your Son, Jesus Christ, Amen.