325. Gather and Bring
Ezekiel 37:21 And say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the heathen, whither they be gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land.
The Lord promises to take His people out from among the unbelievers of the world, where Sin, Death and Satan captured sinners. We have been rescued from the Enemy camp and taken to the safe Homeland where we belong. We were created to live in Eden in a marvelous, beautifully created world to enjoy God forever. Jesus came to bring us into the Kingdom of God. Jesus is the Kingdom until He gathers believing men and women into the Kingdom. This is our own Land. We don’t belong in the World, in which we are held captive. If we were not told we would not know that this world is not our home. It feels like our home for it is the only thing we know and see, but the Lord has graciously revealed that we caused this terrible place by our sin, and that we have been wrenched forcibly from our proper Home with God. God had to reveal to us that there is another life, a much better place. There is a realm where only the Lord rules wisely and well. Jesus invites us to come into the Kingdom of God. “Enter thou into the joy of the Lord.” “Come unto me!”
This world with its destructive and seductive ways and lying Prince is not, cannot be, and will never be, a real home for us, no matter how familiar we become with it. The world should become more uncomfortable and unfamiliar to the Christian. We learn to abhor worldly ways and worldly comforts with it transitory deceptions. When we finally realize that this world, this flesh, and this temporary life will end in utter disappointment and death, then we may turn to the Lord for rescue and let Him bring us Home.
Then we live in both worlds: among the heathen and among the saints. The Lord is continually bringing us out from the one into the other by the power of the gospel. We need the Word of Truth: You have been taken out, gathered and brought into the Land. In His presence there is fullness of joy: at His right hand are pleasures forevermore. It is not hard: confess Jesus is Lord and give thanks always.