FROM A PURE STAND

Jesus, the Christ, suffered,

like what falls from a pure stand;

with majesty stripped and beauty no more, 

bearing sin and hurts and a whipping strand—

the punishment humbly He bore.

Jesus, God’s Son, perished,

like what dies low on the ground;

left to waste and decay, where graves take back,

cast away, disowned, but not making a sound—

obedience, none did He lack.

Jesus, our Lord, descended,

like what goes under the floor;

where there is no esteem in the length of day,

smitten and stricken, where shadows grow more—

the price He did willingly pay.

He was despised and rejected by men,

a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering.

Like one from whom men hide their faces 

he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

Isaiah 53:3                                                      

FROM A PURE STAND

Like Advent for Christmas, we are in the Lent season for Easter. We prepare for the coming Good Friday, remembering how Jesus willingly went to the cruel cross for us and bore our sin on it. He could have called a thousand angels to His side but He didn’t. He humbled Himself, washed the disciple’s feet, and obeyed His Father’s commands. He continued to Calvary knowing not everyone would believe in Him.

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

John 3:16

I had prayed for an opportunity to lead my father-in-law to the Lord and God gave me two opportunities! My rough and tough father-in-law humbled himself to repentance. He said he was sorry for things he had done and wanted to get his soul right. At 89 years old, he asked Jesus into his heart, a few weeks before his death.

Therefore thus saith the LORD GOD, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste.

Isaiah 28:16

Keep praying for those on your heart. My father-in-law made a business of pouring concrete walls in his day. By his profession of faith in Jesus, who is the precious cornerstone, I have the hope and peace of seeing him again in Heaven. Some people think everyone goes to Heaven. But people go to Hell every day. Some people come up with their own sense of what makes them feel comfortable. But those who take care of business and accept Christ gain eternal life and those who do not, do not. They will need to make haste when the judgement day comes.

A wooded area that is not mixed with any other type of tree is said to be a ‘pure stand’. There are pure stands of oak trees, pine, beech and maple trees. In these splendid groves, one can be reminded of our Creator who sent His Son, Jesus, our Savior. With self-control, He took off His cloak and washed the disciple’s feet. He humbled Himself, and in a sense, left His pure stand to die for us. Creation itself speaks of the holiness and determination of our Creator.

The Living God raised His Son Jesus Christ from the dead three days after He died. This is only possible from the Sovereign, Almighty, Omnipotent, Living God! 

O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?

The LORD reigneth; let the people tremble: he sitteth between the cherubims; let the earth be moved. The LORD is great in Zion; and he is high above all the people. Let them praise thy great and terrible name; for it is holy.

Psalm 99:1-3

And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is a gift of God.

Ephesians 2:6-8

‘How can you be sure?’ I was asked this by my father-in-law before I prayed with him and before he took care of the business of his soul. Spread hope. Don’t let the ways of the world distract you. Don’t be a chameleon doing whatever everyone else is doing. Live hope. Are you the tenant who did nothing with the one coin given to you when you were told to multiply? Breathe hope. It comes from God’s Word, belief in Christ, and communion with the Holy Spirit, and prayer.

Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and Jesus our Lord, according as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; and to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; and to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity. For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

2 Peter 1:2-8

Have hope and display temperance, also known as self-control.