A CITY NOT FORSAKEN

Isa 62:12 And they shall call them, The holy people, The redeemed of the LORD: and thou shalt be called, Sought out, A city not forsaken.

In the book of Matthew, Jesus Christ teaches us that we are the light of the world, a city set on a hill, shining for all to see. He then instructs us to:

Mat 5:16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

At conversion, the Christian moves his dwelling place from the kingdom of darkness to the City on a Hill. He becomes a new creature, in a new life, and is given a new name, as was our spiritual father, Abraham.

Gen 17:5 Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations have I made thee.

Rev 3:12 Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name.

God’s people, the spiritual torch carriers of the world, lead the way to the City on the Hill. Just as John the Baptist pointed to Jesus Christ as the Lamb of God, we too, point to Him for all to receive salvation. This is what the Lord meant when he told us to let our light shine, in the midst of a crooked and perverse world.

In this new City our lives change. By the working of God within us, the old man, which was sinful, is put to death. We begin to live our lives with a new desire -- to please God, to shun sinful behavior, participate in God-honoring activities, and fellowshipping with “…the holy people.” (Isaiah 62:12) We reach out to the unsaved with a compassion and love, displaying signs and miracles. Those without the City can look upon the Christian with wonder and be provoked to jealousy by wanting what we have been given. It is written that we can do all these things in Christ Jesus (Phi. 4:13).

Phi 2:13 For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.

Joh 15:5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.
How merciful is the Lord! How generous and how great is His love! He has restored the desolate places, and rebuilt the walls of the City:

Jer 1:18 For, behold, I have made thee this day a defenced city, and an iron pillar, and brasen walls against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, against the princes thereof, against the priests thereof, and against the people of the land.

Jer 1:19 And they shall fight against thee; but they shall not prevail against thee; for I am with thee, saith the LORD, to deliver thee.

We are no longer termed “forsaken,” but become a “crown of glory in the hand of the Lord.” God “rejoices” over his people and calls us “Hephzibah” (my delight). (Isaiah 62) We are come to Mt. Sion, the City of the Living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, to the spirits of just men made perfect, and to Jesus Christ, the mediator of the New Covenant. We are servants of the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords, serving in His Temple, day and night.

Sin no longer has dominion over us. We are more than conquerors through Christ Jesus who loved us and washed us from our sins, in His own blood.
We are now the City on a Hill, a City Not Forsaken, whose builder and maker is God.


Morning Manna