Sailing by Grace

The Book of the Prophet Isaiah , is referred to by some Biblical Scholars as  the fifth Gospel because it speaks  so powerfully regarding the work of salvation that Our Lord Jesus Christ has accomplished on our behalf.

Isaiah prophesying about  an ideal time that the people of Israel have long hope for, the Prophets sees  a water flow issuing forth from Zion a place were the Great God is worshiped.

"Look on Zion, the city of our festivals;

your eyes will see Jerusalem,

a peaceful abode, a tent that will not be moved;

its stakes will never be pulled up,

nor any of its ropes broken.

There the Lord will be our Mighty One.

It will be like a place of broad rivers and streams." Isaiah:33:20-21

Zion is seen as the place of God,  a water flow of Justice, Peace, Mercy ,Equity, Holiness, and Grace all flow from His presences .  Zion is that idealized place where God dwells and rules. It is here that the people gather to worship. It is here that the rivers and streams are broad with lots of freedom to navigate.

Flows  From Zion

Psalm: 48:2 - tells us that Zion ,which  upon the North side of Jerusalem,  "Great is the Lord, and most worthy of praise, in the city of our God, his holy mountain. Beautiful in its loftiness, the joy of the whole earth, like the heights of Zaphon is Mount Zion, the city of the Great King."

North is found in Scripture to represent the place of Gods'  throne. 

 No Great Ships

Upon these streams flowing out of Zion the Prophets speaks of the boats and ships that sail upon the waters. He tells us that the vessels which navigate the broad waters of Zion will not be the great ocean going ship which were driven by slaves chained deep within the depths of the ships. Those who rowed were subjected to cruel task masters who were never satisfied, they restlessly beat  and abused the hapless oarsman.
Human efforts will not take us to Zion, we will become frustrated. Many times Christians will look for the means to row upon theses waters only to find themselves spent and exhausted spiritually.Yet some row on believing that they are making headway.

Those who rowed these ships found that life upon them was hard with little reward ,always anguishing and working but seemingly with little  recompenses. Life at the oars offered little benefits, other than if you rowed well, the slave would live to row another day.

The means is there for them , but  religiosity prevents them from hosting the sails of grace, it's there just un availed of  in thier lives and they misse many great blessings. They can row ,but can not sail.

" Your rigging hangs loose: The mast is not held secure, the sail is not spread. Then an abundance of spoils will be divided and even the lame will carry off plunder"Issiah:33:23

It was just such great ships that the Lord God would not allow to sail the waters of Zion, no ships that relied upon the energies of human strength were found here. 

The Winds of Grace

These verses offer us a glimpse of such a peacefully state that Israel has longed for, but they speak  more than that. They speak to us regarding the life of grace that we can experience, not just , "some day" in the years to come after the reign  of God is extended over all things ,  but here today, right now. Any who will but freely receive all that our Lord Jesus has for them can sail the peaceful broad waters of His grace. 

All that we read here is far more meaningful when we read them through the vantage point of our Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus came to bring us Gods' grace. Jesus sets us free from rowing at the oars chained within the ship of legalism under cruel taskmasters who are never satisfied.  Where  work is long , hard  and fruitless, there is only more work to do with only the hope that we might live to row another day. That is how the law or any   religiosity works, it acts as a task master, we labor under it but never seem to do any better than just living to row another day.

The chains of it  feel a great weight ,at best they keep us at the oars, we are as the galley slaves in the great sea vessels which the Lord will not transverse the waters of Zion.This is religiosity Jesus came to bring us something better, that is Grace. 

"The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John testified concerning him. He cried out, saying, “This is the one I spoke about when I said, ‘He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’ ”) Out of his fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ".  
John:1:14-17

Hoist the Sail

The waters of Zion which flow from the presence of our God, which the vessels of our lives were intended to sail , are meant  to be sailed by boats bearing a hoisted sail. The wind of Grace is enough : powerful enough to give us moment through out lives yet gentle enough that boats of our lives are not out of control or capsized. All we need to do is hoist the sail, that is , by faith look to and rely upon our Lord and the salvation He has accomplished for us all.

The life which we can have in Him is not the painful work of the oars of religion,  but  rather it is a lite burden  that Jesus offers all , His  yoke that we assume is easy and lite,  it is ours' by accepting His grace rather than having it forced upon us. Jesus calls us all to rest in Him.

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls" Matthew:11:28-29

No more struggle in the depths of religiosity  but rather rest for our souls.That is what He offers us all.Life in Him can be as effortless and sailing on the waters of Zion.

"Be still, and know that I am God;

I will be exalted among the nations,

I will be exalted in the earth.”Psalm:46:10

The wind of the Holy Spirit will move us ever closer to the fountain head of the Waters of Zion which is our Lord Himself. Jesus said  in John:3, that wind blows were it will but you can not see from where it came or where it goes, so it is with the work of the Holy Spirit He moves in our lives in ways we may not first understand, we do not drift aimlessly   upon theses waters  , our Lord navigates us along to where He himself desires, if we will just hoist the sails.

  The winds of Grace move us not works, there is freedom to navigate these broads streams and rives of Zion when we sail in grace there is little danger of midstream collisions with the oar driven vessels of religion.

"Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom." 2Corinthians:3:7

 We are cautioned by the Apostle Paul not resort again to the oars of religion but sail rather in the freedom of our Lord Jesus. there are moments when our momentum may not be as great as we had wanted we think that there is something needed  from us, we look for an oar to take up and row in these moments, what ever that oar may be, a program, a prescribed list of "dos and do nots", some sort of expedience, secret knowledge or works, sometimes we seek an oar when all we really need is Jesus.

"It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery." Galatians:5:1

Arriving at Zion

Here the Prophet is inspired by the Great God showing the ideal life of resting in Him, this is for us even now not just in the years to come, we can even now have the waters of Zion flowing in abundance in our lives moving us ever closer to our Lord, God tells us that it is in rest that we know that He is God and then He will be exulted in the earth.

We do not find God in the sweat of  our brow as we row chained  the oars of religion. But  rather in rest as we sail the grace filled waters of Zion, which brings us to gently into the presence of God. Amen

Rev. Todd Crouch, Pastor

The Fountain of Life Church a Congregation of Grace Communion

Washington, Pennsylvania. http://www.youtube.com/user/IfItIsNotAboutJesus   www.gcfountainoflife.org

The Fountain of Life is heard on the RKP Radio Network 1710 and 1670 AM in Washington and North Franklin ,and 1790 AM  in the Arden Fair Grounds area of Washington Pennsylvania, and on 1710 AM in Bentleyville and Monongahela, Pennsylvania. And online around the world at www.rkpradio.com