As stated earlier, spiritual knowledge is attained only by the consent of the seeker, only from God and only by those whom God controls. We would not give the key to our house to a social stranger. Neither will God give the key to His kingdom to a spiritual stranger. Anyone He does not control is a stranger to Him (Eph. 2:12,19). Let us return to Isaiah 28 to receive the key to eternal life from His holy prophet–Isaiah–one of His “holy men of old” (2 Pet. 1:21) who recorded it for “our instruction upon whom the ends of the world have come” (1 Cor. 10:11).
In Isaiah 28:9 we found that God will reveal the key to eternal life only to those who are mature in Him, who have moved on from the primary information (milk) taught to babes. These are they who crave the Biblical “strong meat” that, if learned, believed and obeyed, will produce the righteousness and holiness necessary for salvation. As we are told in Romans 5:21 and 6:22, it is only from those spiritual foundations that eternal life evolves. Now we will learn how to attain those Godly characteristics and retain them throughout the rest of our lives so that, upon Christ’s return, we can receive that for which He died.
The key to attaining and retaining righteousness and holiness is gleaned only through much effort. In verse 10 we find Isaiah telling us how to attain those necessary virtues: “For precept must be (studied) upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little, there a little.” Note that there are 10 steps in the key, meaning that we must explore, search for and find those “fine prints” in order to learn all we need to learn from God. There are many “fine print” Truths in God’s Word. We must diligently study His Word to find them. As we prove to the Lord that we will embrace and obey them, He will trust us with more of them. We feed our body when the body craves food. God feeds our hearts (minds) only when we crave His Truth.
Again, the need for such nourishment is dependent upon us. We must crave God’s Truth like a hart in the desert. Jesus states it this way: “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for (only) they will be filled” (Mat. 5:6/ Isa. 55:1,20). There is an age-old adage that says: “You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink.” The horse refuses to drink because it does not thirst for water. Those who say, “I know all I need to know” do not hunger and thirst for righteousness and holiness. We are not to waste our time on them. We are not to “cast our pearls before swine” (Mat. 7:6).
It is only when we hunger and thirst for righteousness, holiness, Godliness and perfection that God leads us to His Truths which He has scattered throughout His Holy Scriptures. Only those whose heart’s desire is to be one with God as Christ was one with Him will seek His Truth above all other things. It is only Truth seekers, and only Truth seekers, who will be filled will His Truth. We must be like a vacuum which demands to be filled. Someone has said that nature hates a vacuum, therefore it rushes to fill it. The seeker of oneness with his Maker will create such a vacuum and will search the Scriptures “precept upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little, there a little” in order to fill the vacuum he has created through hungering and thirsting for righteousness and holiness. It is this seeker who will turn from the television, the book, the movies, etc. that take up so much of his daily life and look to the Holy Bible for that which can save the soul.
We are commanded to “redeem the time” (Col. 4:5) that we have in this life. We are to redeem it from Satan who will urge us to use it for self-serving purposes. I know what it is like to be “addicted” to certain things which are not sins in and of themselves. At one time I was addicted to watching boxing on t.v. My addiction had begun long before the advent of television when I would listen to “The Friday Night Fights” on the radio. Over time the Lord began to convict me of the time I was wasting, time that I should be giving to the study of His Word. It was only when I voluntarily gave up my craving that He took it from me. I had to take the initiative in the matter. Such is true for anything we do in this life that satisfies ourselves instead of satisfying Him. Though it is not easy to give up a pleasure, it is worth it in the end. After all, this life is a blink in time when compared to eternity.
In the societal realm we have two important expressions that describe the choices we must make relative to salvation: “instant gratification” and “deferred gratification.” Instant gratification refers to doing what gives us immediate, though short-lived satisfaction. Deferred gratification means that we refrain from doing what we want to do, knowing that it will pay off later and for a much longer time. I have a childhood friend who received a $4000 inheritance when he turned 18. In those days (1950’s) that much money would finance a college education. My friend chose the instant gratification route and spent his entire inheritance on a car (instant gratification). Ten years later the car was history and he had no college degree. If he had used the money for an education (deferred gratification) he would have benefited for the rest of his life.
In the same way we have a choice as to how to use our time. We can give in to the devil’s call for immediate and temporary gratification that entertainment provides, or we can answer the Lord calling by learning His ways which have eternal implications.
What about those who have access to the kingdom key but, like their ancient ancestors, “they would not” search for it, find it, embrace it and obey it. Isaiah tells us in verses 12,13 that though they had access to the key, they “fell backward” (from God) and were “broken off” from His “natural tree”–Rom. 11:13-21). Then, like low-hanging fruit, they were “snared (by the devil) and taken” by him.
The Bible is like a puzzle. We must have all of the pieces (precepts, lines) in order to complete it. And the pieces must all be in their proper places. Why, some ask, does God make it so hard to fit everything together–to walk the Christlike life. This is the method by which He separates sheep from goats, contenders from the pretenders. Therefore, let us diligently search out God’s “fine print” (precepts, lines, a little here, a little there), embrace those Truths and obey them throughout the remainder of our lives. Let us turn away from the world’s offerings that have only immediate and temporary value. Let us look to the future after his puff of smoke known as “life” is over. In the grand scheme of things, only eternal life is of any real value. The world’s things and stuff will all pass away, but eternity, the Lord tells us, is here to stay. L.J.
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