Twelfth Mountain Peak
"The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad (or them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose. It shall blossom abundantly. and rejoice even with joy and singing: the glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it. the excellencv of Carmel and Sharon, they shall see the glory of the Lord, and the excellency of our God." Isaiah 35 :1. 2.
FOR YOUR OWN ENJOYMENT and profit read on to the end of the chapter, for we shall discover great truths in all the verses. Among all the flowers the rose plant needs much care to make it grow. You will not see many gardens in Hyderabad with nice roses, because they require much care, attention, watchfulness and knowledge. Otherwise insects may eat away the plant, and it will not blossom. Yet among all the flowers the rose is the best, provided it is properly cared for. God says '"the wilderness and the desert... shall blossom as the rose."
I have seen in gardens beautiful roses which everyone admires. Before we came to the Lord Jesus Christ we were like a desert with not the least hope of bringing forth fruit. There are no flowers in a desert, not even ordinary flowers. The Lord is saying here that even though you have become so barren and worthless, yet I will make you to blossom one day like a rose garden. The Lord Jesus Christ Himself is our Gardener as we have seen in Isa. 27:3. God says; "With my own hands I will water you and will look after you." Even a small insect can spoil the flower and its branches, and plant diseases can destroy the flower, so the gardener has to protect the leaves and the flowers, and at the same time protect the plant from extreme heat and cold. As the gardener protects the plant, so our Lord protects us spiritually from extreme cold, heat and other dangers which come to His children. Roses also require watering at least three times a day, but the Lord says of His own: "I will water it every moment." Not only three times a day, but every moment. That is how we are going to become like a rose garden full of blossoms.
In London there is Kew garden, which is supposed to be the best garden in the world. There are more than seventy kinds of roses there, large and small roses of different colours, and each plant requires many hours of attention. As a result the whole garden is full of a very sweet fragrance.
Our whole life can become a beautiful garden, if the Lord Jesus is continually with us. Sin has ruined us and left an ugly mark on us, and nobody can remove that mark of sin except the Lord Jesus.
When people want to give flowers as a gift, either for a wedding or on some other occasion, they usually give roses. If they want to wish God-speed or a blessing, they give roses. So when our life blossoms like a rose, it will become a blessing and like a heavenly song. There will certainly be singing in heaven, perhaps the whole time, as our joy increases, for there will be no sigh or sorrow or disappointment there. Even on earth there are some people who sing all the time, but we often find that though in the daytime they arc cheerful, yet in the night they start weeping or crying, because they feel sorry for themselves. In heaven however, all sighing will disappear, and there will be a heavenly song to sing all the time because life there will be so full of joy that it must overflow, and even all the painful experiences of earth will then have become joy to us. But even here on earth our lives can be full of song when we remember that God is using our earthly trials to make us more fruitful and worthy of the heavenly kingdom.
On the mountains of Lebanon there are beautiful trees growing very tall and majestic, which speak of beauty and glory Like these trees, God is going to give us dignity and authority. Do not go to Him with fear, but walk with boldness as His coworker and a king. It is a wonderful sight to see Mount Carmel. The scenery is very beautiful all around. Similarly, when the work, of salvation is completed we will be made partakers of His glory and beauty and majesty, and all ugly patches will he removed.
In Government offices files are provided and the officer in charge of the section has to keep the records of the clerks under him for promotion in the office. They are very confidential. Someday when promotion is to be given the file is brought forward and if there are 12 bad marks, the man cannot be promoted. Many clerks do not know how many black marks are put in the "no promotion" file. Because of anger and jealousy against a person, many are not promoted and those marks put in the file will not be taken away till the time of their retirement. The Lord knows our private life, and how much we have grieved Him, by thought and word and deed. But by the precious blood we can be cleansed as we go to Him again and again.
In heaven none of these things will be remembered, but God's glory alone. We believers are weak upon this earth and when we are tired and lonely we cry out, "Lord how long am I going to be like this? I find in my life many failures and short comings and weaknesses but in heaven we will overcome these weaknesses, as His very life will he given to us. Even now weak believers can be strengthened by being filled with the life of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Isa. 35.4 is our only hope as we keep ourselves ready for His coming. Do not let us remain weak. Let us acknowledge our weakness and thank Him for dying for our sins and thus put away the old man saying: "My Lord, now you fill me with yourself". As we keep looking to Him we know His recompense for the days of weariness and struggle, and to keep our eyes on Him is one reason why we take part in the Lord's Table Sunday after Sunday (v. 5). There the ears of the deaf are opened and the eyes of [he blind see, and we are able to see God's glory. One day all of us will be able to see clearly and fully the heavenly things, but now we require heavenly light and heavenly eyes to see God's glory clearly and spiritual ears to hear the voice of God speaking clearly. As we listen to what He says, we will hear and understand, and by hearing His voice and gazing on His glory, we are made partakers of that glory, v. 6; Whatever a man's handicap may be on this earth, by so meeting our Lord face to face, he will be able to overcome this handicap. Many of us on this earth cannot speak even one word, and that is why many of us do no! open our mouths to worship Him. You may say. "I will lake part next Sunday," but many years pass, and even if you try to speak, not one word will come out of your mouth. On the day we meet Him face to face, whether here or when He comes, the dumb shall sing, and we will be praising the Lord with all our heart. singing heavenly songs. v. 7: The most barren ground can become fruitful. Nowadays, in the Persian Gulf can be seen trees and stretches of green grass, which forty years ago were not there. In previous years, I have not seen a single tree there, but only a sea of sand. Now that area has become very wealthy. There is plenty of money and they are bringing soil from other place and spending much money in order to grow trees and grass.
As verse 6 tells us. when heavenly waters break out, there will be streams in the desert. All kind of barreness can be overcome, if we claim the life of the Lord Jesus Christ day by day. Do not depend upon self for fruilfulness. but go on claiming the divine life, for that is how the desert can become fruitful.
In verse 8 we read of the highway of holiness. This holiness is not a human qualification, but the holiness which we have in the Lord Jesus Christ. He Himself is our righteousness. He Himself is our sanctification. It is not our Bible knowledge or prayer; it is only the life of the Lord Jesus Christ, the living Person who rose again, and whom we have received as our Saviour, that can make us holy. He is our holiness. The more we receive
Him, the more holiness we have. When we first begin to pray, we go to Him on our own merits, saying: "I pay my tithes regularly. 1 do not quarrel with others"; but that will not do for us when we go into the presence of God. When we pray, we should say by faith: "Lord! 1 am not worthy to come into thy presence, but by grace 1 am what I am. Thou art my righteousness. I come to thee". Then we can enjoy holiness in His presence, and we will be able to talk to Him standing on the merits of that holiness. v. 9 "No lion shall be there." How many men boast of their human strength, saying: "We are like lions; who can stand before us?" Strong and healthy men are proud of their strength and health, but that will not give them an entrance into heaven. Only those who are redeemed by the precious blood can find entrance into God's presence. No human strength can qualify us. "No lion shall be there ... but the redeemed shall wait there." These who are not redeemed cannot enter there. v. 10 All who are washed and purchased by the precious blood of Christ have the privilege of entering God's kingdom with joy and gladness. Even though we may have many human handicaps and are very foolish, weak and stupid in the eyes of men, yet all these human limitations can be overcome by His precious blood. Whatever they may be, we can enter into God's kingdom boldly with all the saints.