Stumbling Stones

“Go through, go through the gates!  Prepare the way for the people; build up, build up the highway!  Take out the stones, lift up a banner for the people!” (Isa. 62:10)

John the Baptist was sent to prepare the way for the Lord’s first coming by removing the stones in the hearts of God’s people.  As it was for His first appearing, God’s people must be ready for His Second Coming.  Before the Day of the Lord, He is sending again His messenger to prepare His people (Mal. 4:5).  This messenger is a company of prophets with a similar message as John the Baptist.  “Behold I send My messenger, and he will prepare the way before Me.  And the Lord whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple” (Mal. 3:1).  He is coming “to” His temple in a great end-time revival before He comes “for” His Church at His Second Coming.  “But who can endure the day of His coming?  And who can stand when He appears?  For He is like a refiner’s fire and like launderers soap.” (Mal. 3:2).  At His Second Coming, He will bring judgment to the world and deliverance to His people, but first judgment must begin with the house of God (1Pe. 4:17).  Before His Second Coming, the Bride must make herself ready (Rev. 19:7). 

In the first year of my salvation, I read the book Why Revival Tarries by Leonard Ravenhill.  It left a lasting impression on my heart.  The author made it clear that God desires to send revival, but it is delayed because of sin and lack of prayer.  If we want revival, we must pursue God with all our hearts.  This end-time revival will come as the Lord has promised because there is a remnant of believers who have not bowed the knee to Baal (1Ki. 19:18).  We must be part of that remnant.

If we pursue God, where will we find Him?  “For thus says the High and Lofty One who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him who has a contrite and humble spirit to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.” (Isa. 57:15).  When the Lord comes to His temple, He will bring refreshing to the contrite and humble.  What will He bring to the disobedient?  “He will sit as a refiner and a purifier of silver; He will purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer to the Lord an offering in righteousness.” (Mal. 3:3).  We must pursue holiness if we want to see God (Heb. 12:14).  It is not just an option; it is essential.  “Who may ascend into the hill of the Lord?  Or who may stand in His holy place?  He who has clean hands and a pure heart…” (Ps. 24:3,4). 

Stones are areas in our hearts that have been hardened by the deceitfulness of sin (Heb. 3:13).  We need not continually stumble in our walk with God.  “Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble” (2Pe. 1:10).  We must prepare for the return of the Lord by removing from our lives the trees that bear bad fruit and by receiving “with meekness the implanted word” which will bear good fruit in us (Jas. 1:21).  “And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees.  Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.” (Lu. 3:9).  When we repent of our actions that are not pleasing to the Lord, it is like cutting off the branches.  That is good, but unless the tree is removed, similar branches will grow again.  We need to cut the entire tree down from the roots, or it will spring up new shoots.  These roots represent the causes of our behaviours.  Obtaining spiritual discernment is like exposing the roots of the tree so we can lay the axe to them.  Now if we get this far but do not have a good sharp axe, the task cannot be completed.  We have been provided with such a tool, the Word of God.  We wield the axe (the sword of the Spirit) with the strength of God by faith.

Let me give you an example of how this works.  One of the weaknesses the Lord showed me was my tendency to pout when wounded.  People with my personality type tend to use pouting to control the behaviour of those who wound them.  When I realized what I was doing, I repented.  Growth is a process, so removing this tree of sin can take time.  The first thing I did to try to remove this behaviour was to apply God’s Word.  Love “does not take into account a wrong suffered” (1Cor. 1:5 NASV).  The next thing I did was to repent of “control”; this is the trunk of the tree.  It tries to produce branches of all shapes and sizes, so it must be discerned separately from the branch that is causing the present trouble.  Again, I must repent and replace the behaviour with obedience to His commands.  After a time, however, it will return.  If I want to remove this sinful pattern completely, I need to apply the axe to the roots.  What is the root of control?  It is selfishness, and that springs from “self-protection”, which is actually “pride of life”.  I cut at the root of the tree when I repent of pride and replace the behaviour with surrender to God.  I grow in this area of my life as I discern between good and evil, repent of the evil, and believe God’s word (Heb. 5:14).  I don’t claim to have “already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me.” (Phil. 3:12).

In this example, the root was the pride of life.  The Scriptures tell us there are three roots of sin.  The power of sin came into this world “when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise” (Gen. 3:6).  When Jesus was tempted in the wilderness, He overcame sin in these three areas.  John defined these as “the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life” (1Jn. 2:16).

It is liberating to realize that every problem is rooted in sin because, in Christ, we have victory over the power of sin (Rom. 6:6-11).  With humility and faith, we can overcome.  “And this is the victory that has overcome the world – our faith.” (1Jn. 5:4)