Ensign: To Timothy In The City Of Gold And Lead

All ye inhabitants of the world, and dwellers on the earth, see ye, when he lifteth up an ensign on the mountains; and when he bloweth a trumpet, hear ye. Isaiah 18:3

AN ENSIGN ON THE MOUNTAINS 25 October 2013

Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.

This week one of the daily devotions I've read had as its Scripture text 2 Timothy 4:1-8, Paul's last letter from about the mid-sixties of our era. And verse eight that I've cited above made me stop dead – sorry, let me adapt that phrase – LIVING in my tracks when I rad that a few times. I love the Lord, yes. I have Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior, yes. And I'm guaranteed to go to heaven when I die, yes. But – do I love his appearing?

The days and the weeks went by. There was always the green dusk, but sometimes the twilight was less dim, and then one knew that outside it was a fine summer day, the sun scorching in a light blue heaven.

Not that the other Scripture isn't important, but for the rest of this message you'll see an excerpt from the John Christopher novel The City of Gold and Lead, one of my favorite books, italicized here. As I was thinking of how to present this Ensign and re-reading the verses, I realize that Paul's not only commending and commanding Timothy to keep the work of God – the preaching, the reproving (of those fallen out of faith in their Lord), and the exhorting – going, he's warning him. And you. And me.

What one saw inside the City was a pale disk, only visible when it was near the zenith, a small circle of light green.

See, you and I as long as we're alive are inside the City. Augustine from the fifth century in writing The City of God compared his title location, where those who dwelt there loved and served God day and night, with the City of Man, where those who dwelt there loved and served themselves. Now is that bad? Of course not, but there is a place and a time to serve God, serve others, and serve ourselves. Rendering unto Caesar what is Caesar and rendering unto God what is God's SOUNDS right ...

But the heat did not vary, nor the crushing weight on one's body.

… until you think about it – what ISN'T God's? So we need priority, and whether or not Paul intended to be prophetic when he wrote Timothy of a coming time when people would only listen to people who taught what they wanted to hear (I'm paraphrasing verses three and four here), you and I can certainly hear the claims that “no one has a monopoly on truth” in our day, two thousand years later, and the longer we live become more and more convinced of that. That scares me. Maybe you too.

And day by day the heaviness and the hotness drained strength away. Each night I lay down with greater thankfulness on my hard bed; each morning it was more of an effort to rise.

What a stupid world. Day by day, it is just harder and harder to “watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, [and] make full proof of [our] ministry.” It isn't just the job of the pastors and the missionaries and the people with name recognition within and without the church. (Oh, by “without” I mean “outside of”, not “missing” – it just flowed better.) It's all of us who have a part of us, all of us who have a role, and all of us who love, even when we don't feel loving.

Time to leave the City very soon,

David

P.S. I write this weekly devotional to keep in touch with all of you in my address book, and I hope to be an encouragement too! If you find that I'm not or you want me to get lost, just let me know -- thank you!

We praise You, Lord, for this beautiful day You have given us! Please pray with me for the peace of Jerusalem on both sides of the fence and for communities around our world.

Lord, we need Your strength to fight the natural disasters and human ills to ultimately treat the cause and not just the symptoms; until we who have power change, this world You have made us stewards of won't either.

Thank You, Lord, for all those in leadership and service here and abroad. Thank You for the opportunities we have been given as well as the promise of new life through Your Son. May we all seek and have a blessed week! Amen.