Man – continually diminishing by Lars Widerberg
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Man – continually diminishing
By Lars Widerberg
Man – continually diminishing
By Lars Widerberg
Do you know the ordinances of the heavens?
Can you set up their rulership on the earth?
Job 38:33
This is the mystery of Zion. This is the prophet’s revelation. This is a maturing man’s view of the central part of reality. This view of true rulership shapes man into what he ought to be.
Man maturing diminishes, he vanishes from the stages arranged by those who invest ambition and hope in what is mere man. A man on his way to prophetic maturity will come to a point where the matter of the throne and of rulership will be provokingly and devastatingly addressed.
God does confront man at the focal point of his ambition; God confronts the prophetic man at the very central point of ambition – and He does so by an overwhelming display of the throne. God, the Father has set His king upon His holy hill of Zion – His Son permanently, irrevocably positioned in authority.
And the proper, mature, prophetic reaction: “Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.”
Isaiah, the friend of the Royal Household, the practicing prophet, finds himself confronted by the issue of rulership, by the mystery of Zion, and finds himself utterly devastated.
He solemnly declares that he will never be able to address the nation and the royal household on behalf of the One who sits on the throne of the Universe. He solemnly declares that he knows nothing worth knowing regarding rulership. In the year of mourning for king Ussiah, the king whose strength is the Lord; in that dreadful time when the last flickering light of hope in the nation was quenched by the king’s death, the prophet was confronted by the issue of the throne.
Yet, this prophet was by this radical new outlook restored to bear forth words, the many words from the Refiner’s fire, regarding Zion, its position, its role, its throne and its Redeemer. The prophet – and his people - ought to come to nought in relation to power and hope for the sake of submitting to, joyful submission to the throne of Zion.
The prophetic man is, after being called and handed over to the Refiners fire, no longer on his own. He is no longer his own, his body as well as his personality, is a temple of the Holy Spirit which is in him, he is not his own. There is no room for a second throne, no room even for the tiniest, most insignificant marker of position and pre-eminence.
A man living on the edge of the revelation of Zion, how can such a man even consider the possibility of a second throne? A man living on the edge of reality of Zion, in which God holds authority - every fragment of it - is at any given moment confronted by these questions: “Do you know the ordinances of the heavens? Can you set up their rulership on the earth?”
The prophetic man living in the realisation of Zion worships; such a man is silenced by the reality of the throne.
But the heathen rage, kings set themselves in opposition, men zealously aspiring for position are angrily embittered when the matter of the throne of Zion is brought forth. The prophetic man has come to, the believer has come to, the Church has arrived at Zion. This is our place of gathering, of security and of glory. “A glorious high throne from the beginning is the place of our sanctuary.” Jer 17:12.
The prophet is a man of marvellous worship. The Church is brought into existence for the sake of worship. The master key to worship, to the bowing down on bended knees, with silent minds and hearts bleeding in superbly honest self-sacrifice is a revelation of God in all His all-encompassing majesty, His utterly refined holiness, His absoluteness and His remarkably honest cross-marked love.
The prophet’s role is to remind his people of the necessity of guarding the presence of the blessed element of spiritual fascination in true worship. The prophet’s aim is at all times to teach the wonder of being filled with moral excitement, an aspiration for that which is perfect, this which constitutes true worship. The prophet’s hope is to be able to help to lead men into a true experience of sacred astonishment which the nearness to the Throne alone can induce. The prophet is himself a man who carries a mark of encountering the inconceivable elevation and magnitude and splendour of Almighty God.
Worship is music of a different quality – rare in modern times, behaviour of a kind which overwhelms in its refinement, emotions lofty and clear as Heaven itself. Few are the men who have entered into these realms of dignity and majesty. Fewer have come back forever changed. A minority of these who truly went through the change have words enough to describe what they saw and encountered, words by which men might be provoked to enter a similar quest.
Do we dare to think of and ponder the implications of the Throne? Do we dare to stop to consider; “Do you know the ordinances of the heavens?” Do we have courage enough to come to rest at the feet of Him who reveals our nothingness – “Can you set up their rulership on the earth?” The prophet speaks on behalf of Him who alone have power to conduct heavenly affairs on earth. The prophet alone is able to speak of the life to come after the devastation of our personal, petty thrones. The prophet is a prophet because his own agenda and his personal ambition are shattered by the realities of the throne of God. The prophet is a man continually diminishing.
Zion, the House of the Lord, the gathering of the saints in splendid worship contains and reveals the Throne.
The House of the Lord assembles the priests of the Most High to sanctified ministry, a service which reflects the Glory of the Most High.
The House of the Lord is a place of prayer aiming at the setting up of the ordinances of Heaven on Earth. “Thy Kingdom come”. The prayers of the House find multiple variations on one, single theme: “Establish Zion as the very mountain out from which law shall go forth to the nations and unto which every nation shall gather for the sake of the eternal rulership of the Son.
The House of the Lord represents Life governed by the Throne.
At the House of the Lord, in Zion, at its center one will find an altar which displays true rulership.
*******************
Can you set up their rulership on the earth?
Job 38:33
This is the mystery of Zion. This is the prophet’s revelation. This is a maturing man’s view of the central part of reality. This view of true rulership shapes man into what he ought to be.
Man maturing diminishes, he vanishes from the stages arranged by those who invest ambition and hope in what is mere man. A man on his way to prophetic maturity will come to a point where the matter of the throne and of rulership will be provokingly and devastatingly addressed.
God does confront man at the focal point of his ambition; God confronts the prophetic man at the very central point of ambition – and He does so by an overwhelming display of the throne. God, the Father has set His king upon His holy hill of Zion – His Son permanently, irrevocably positioned in authority.
And the proper, mature, prophetic reaction: “Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.”
Isaiah, the friend of the Royal Household, the practicing prophet, finds himself confronted by the issue of rulership, by the mystery of Zion, and finds himself utterly devastated.
He solemnly declares that he will never be able to address the nation and the royal household on behalf of the One who sits on the throne of the Universe. He solemnly declares that he knows nothing worth knowing regarding rulership. In the year of mourning for king Ussiah, the king whose strength is the Lord; in that dreadful time when the last flickering light of hope in the nation was quenched by the king’s death, the prophet was confronted by the issue of the throne.
Yet, this prophet was by this radical new outlook restored to bear forth words, the many words from the Refiner’s fire, regarding Zion, its position, its role, its throne and its Redeemer. The prophet – and his people - ought to come to nought in relation to power and hope for the sake of submitting to, joyful submission to the throne of Zion.
The prophetic man is, after being called and handed over to the Refiners fire, no longer on his own. He is no longer his own, his body as well as his personality, is a temple of the Holy Spirit which is in him, he is not his own. There is no room for a second throne, no room even for the tiniest, most insignificant marker of position and pre-eminence.
A man living on the edge of the revelation of Zion, how can such a man even consider the possibility of a second throne? A man living on the edge of reality of Zion, in which God holds authority - every fragment of it - is at any given moment confronted by these questions: “Do you know the ordinances of the heavens? Can you set up their rulership on the earth?”
The prophetic man living in the realisation of Zion worships; such a man is silenced by the reality of the throne.
But the heathen rage, kings set themselves in opposition, men zealously aspiring for position are angrily embittered when the matter of the throne of Zion is brought forth. The prophetic man has come to, the believer has come to, the Church has arrived at Zion. This is our place of gathering, of security and of glory. “A glorious high throne from the beginning is the place of our sanctuary.” Jer 17:12.
The prophet is a man of marvellous worship. The Church is brought into existence for the sake of worship. The master key to worship, to the bowing down on bended knees, with silent minds and hearts bleeding in superbly honest self-sacrifice is a revelation of God in all His all-encompassing majesty, His utterly refined holiness, His absoluteness and His remarkably honest cross-marked love.
The prophet’s role is to remind his people of the necessity of guarding the presence of the blessed element of spiritual fascination in true worship. The prophet’s aim is at all times to teach the wonder of being filled with moral excitement, an aspiration for that which is perfect, this which constitutes true worship. The prophet’s hope is to be able to help to lead men into a true experience of sacred astonishment which the nearness to the Throne alone can induce. The prophet is himself a man who carries a mark of encountering the inconceivable elevation and magnitude and splendour of Almighty God.
Worship is music of a different quality – rare in modern times, behaviour of a kind which overwhelms in its refinement, emotions lofty and clear as Heaven itself. Few are the men who have entered into these realms of dignity and majesty. Fewer have come back forever changed. A minority of these who truly went through the change have words enough to describe what they saw and encountered, words by which men might be provoked to enter a similar quest.
Do we dare to think of and ponder the implications of the Throne? Do we dare to stop to consider; “Do you know the ordinances of the heavens?” Do we have courage enough to come to rest at the feet of Him who reveals our nothingness – “Can you set up their rulership on the earth?” The prophet speaks on behalf of Him who alone have power to conduct heavenly affairs on earth. The prophet alone is able to speak of the life to come after the devastation of our personal, petty thrones. The prophet is a prophet because his own agenda and his personal ambition are shattered by the realities of the throne of God. The prophet is a man continually diminishing.
Zion, the House of the Lord, the gathering of the saints in splendid worship contains and reveals the Throne.
The House of the Lord assembles the priests of the Most High to sanctified ministry, a service which reflects the Glory of the Most High.
The House of the Lord is a place of prayer aiming at the setting up of the ordinances of Heaven on Earth. “Thy Kingdom come”. The prayers of the House find multiple variations on one, single theme: “Establish Zion as the very mountain out from which law shall go forth to the nations and unto which every nation shall gather for the sake of the eternal rulership of the Son.
The House of the Lord represents Life governed by the Throne.
At the House of the Lord, in Zion, at its center one will find an altar which displays true rulership.
*******************
The European Prophetic College
EPC@Comhem.se
EPC@Comhem.se
Lars Widerberg
The European Prophetic College
Storskiftesgatan 87
S-58334 Linkoping, Sweden
The European Prophetic College
Storskiftesgatan 87
S-58334 Linkoping, Sweden
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