Sunday, December 27, 2020

"After This" -To

 "This thy stature is like to a palm tree, and thy breasts to clusters of grapes." (S.O.S. 7:7)

  "Rejoice ye with Jerusalem, and be glad with her, all ye that love her: rejoice for joy with her, all ye that mourn for her: that ye may suck, and be satisfied with the breasts of her consolations; that ye may milk out, and be delighted with the abundance of her glory." (Isaiah 66:10-11)

  Without getting into a very complex and lengthy discussion about being able to stand, (as if I might pretend to be some sort of expert,) we need to understand that this is speaking about something that is a, because, situation; as in, "You are this or that because." Either, or, it is still the same this, thy stature; which is basically saying, Your stature is thus, because it is like a palm tree. In that instance, it is the palm tree because of stance; literally meaning, to be erect. 

  If you are familiar with Paul's final message in Ephesians, he speaks about putting on, "the whole armor of God, that you might be able to stand," as it is the whole armor that you need, not just part of it, or not just one piece more than another; but every single piece of it is essential to your ability to stand! If you lack any piece of this, so called armor, you will not and cannot stand erect. Whether you can see that or not, it is totally up to you; I cannot force you into that kind of understanding, but it is something you must come to understand on your own: with the help of the Holy Spirit! 

  Am I saying that with understanding and putting into practice it is the foolproof way to remain standing upright in the Lord? It doesn't hurt, but it is not foolproof, by any means: because you need these breasts! If you will allow me, pretend this is just a simple illustration on your unrighteousness, where the breasts are the multitude of trespasses before God. Paul alludes to this illustration in Romans 5:20, saying, "But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound." 

  It is not a question of the freedom to sin, because if that is your case, you wouldn't understand grace; it is because of God's mercy that our sins are covered over by the righteousness of Jesus Christ; but it is His act of making us righteous in His Son that becomes grace, as the righteousness of His Son is what we do not deserve and absolutely cannot obtain on our own. 

  What these breasts represent is very closely related to the, "consolations," mentioned in the breasts of Jerusalem, as they are the mercies of God, that not only ensure she is kept, but also make her abundant in the glory she will become! It is not just important that we stand, but it is more important that we remember to stand again, if and when we happen to fall! That is the only way that putting on the whole armor of God is made foolproof, by getting back up when you fall and standing again; doing all that you can to stand.

  I will try all I can to make this up to you, but just in case you might understand, you have got to be glad to be part of something that is so much bigger than you or me; it is because of what we are made part of that our sins are so insignificant, not because of our sins being insignificant...

"Therefore, since we have been made right in God's sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us. Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God's glory. We can rejoice too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love." (Romans 5:1-5) NLT 

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