The Frailty & Futility Of The Flesh.
"All flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away: But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you." - 1st Peter 1:24-25.
Do we live & walk in the consciousness of this undeniable scriptural truth about the frailty & futility of the flesh, which states that all flesh is as grass?
Words of truth lifted by the apostle Peter from the prophetic book of Isaiah:
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Isaiah 40:3-8
"The voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare ye the way of Jehovah, make straight in the desert a highway for our God! Every valley shall be raised up, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low; and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places a plain. And the glory of Jehovah shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of Jehovah hath spoken. A voice saith, Cry. And he saith, What shall I cry? --All flesh is grass, and all the comeliness thereof as the flower of the field. The grass withereth, the flower fadeth, for the breath of Jehovah bloweth upon it: surely the people is grass.
The grass withereth, the flower fadeth; but the word of our God abideth for ever."
In the scriptures cited, we see a convergence of apostolic & prophetic writings in emphasising/bringing home this truth to us.
This emphasis is coming from an apostle Peter who in his second epistle, having warned against false teachers in the last days, went on to say this: "This, already, beloved, is the second letter I am writing unto you; and, in these letters, I am stirring up–by way of calling to remembrance–your uncorrupted mind, to be mindful of the words spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of the Lord and Saviour by we your apostles" 2nd Peter 3:1-2.
He himself is evidently mindful of the words spoken before by the holy prophets(ie. prophecies of scripture), thus he is not merely enjoining saints to be mindful of what he himself is not mindful of.
Sadly, many professing christians today are not mindful of prophetic scriptures and apostolic writings of truth.
Much of today's preaching is void of the word of the Lord & bereft of the truth of the gospel of Christ. We have much of motivational speeches in word ministrations; full of hype, adulation and the praise & worship of the greatness & glory of men.
These vain talkers/preachers rarely remind us of the frailty/futility of the flesh & the vanity of the glory/greatness of men upon the earth.
On the contrary, they glorify men, they preach the men they admire/adore(their idols/religious papas); they also preach themselves and thus is the light of the gospel of Christ's glory obscured & veiled in the minds/hearts of their undiscerning listeners (2nd Corinthians 4:4-5).
Some of the popular sensual vibes/lines they employ in their ministrations are "celebrate greatness", "appreciate grace" "the anointing you do not respect, you can never attract", "recognise grace and know how to tap into it etc".
Grace and peace flows from God's throne to his own; Revelation 1:4 says Grace be unto you and peace from Him who is, and who was, and who is to come....we don't have to sow a seed to tap into the grace of God, we don't have to wait for grace and peace to be transferred to us, it flows to us from Him who is(in the now), who was(in the past) and who is to come(in the future).
Vain talkers/preachers however, have made themselves and the men they follow, an embodiment of grace like they are grace personified. This is the idolatry plaguing the church today just like Israel(God's people of old) were plagued with idolatry in their entire history; often forsaking God & giving themselves over to the service & worship of vain gods/idols like baal, ashtaroth, moloch & remphan(Judges 2:13 & Acts 7:38-43).
We cannot worship God & anyother god/idol of our heart. We cannot preach the gospel of the glory of Christ, while also preaching men or preaching ourselves,. It's a mixture which the Lord hates, abhors & will not tolerate, for the two don't go together.
James 2:1 says "My brethren, do not have the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, Lord of glory, with respect of persons". We can't hold unto the faith of our Lord Jesus and still hold unto the respect, admiration and adulation of men's personalities.
Verse 9 of this same James 2 shows us that it is a sin to hold unto the respect, admiration & adulation of men's persons.
9 "But if ye have respect of persons, ye commit sin, being convicted by the law as transgressors."
According to Jude verse 16, one of the marks of ungodly men who crept in unawares, infiltrating the church & church leadership, is that they speak great swelling, pompous & exaggerated words of hype and adulation; holding men's persons in great admiration for advantage, gain & profit.
Acts 10:34 clearly states us that by nature, God is not a respecter of persons, so if we are his children and yet show respect of persons, then we are doing that which is contrary and opposed to the nature of God.
Acts 10:34 And Peter opening his mouth said, Of a truth I apprehend(strongly percieve) that God is no respecter of persons".
"prosōpolēptēs" an acceptor of persons, one who discriminates, an accepter of a face (individual), that is, (specifically) one exhibiting partiality or favouritism: - respecter of persons.
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