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SUNDAY EXTRA: How China build a train station in 9 hours | Future Now

While some of us were probably sitting at our desks yawning into a coffee and blinking at our emails, over in China a huge group of workers were busy creating the railway for a new train station - being so efficient at their job that it only took them 9 hours. Even Elon Musk tweets and praised the high efficiency of the railway project.

China has the largest and most extensively used of high-speed railway network in the world. Lines cross the nation in excess of 40,000 km by the end of 2021, accounts for two-thirds of the world's total high-speed railway networks. Half of that amount has been built in the previous 7 years. By 2035, the network is planned to boom and set to reach 70,000 km.

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The glorious restoration of God

You see, you do not see the world as God intended it or created it. You see a world that is suffering as a result of man's rebellion and sin. You do not see man as God intended him. With his physical ailments and impairments. With the deafness, blindness, handicaps. God did not intend that. And in the Kingdom Age, these things will not be. How can a God of love allow a child to be born blind? How can a God of love allow a child to be born deaf or something? Hey, wait a minute. This world is presently under Satan's control who has rebelled against God. Jesus came to redeem the world back to God and the day is coming when He is going to take His purchased possession unto Himself. And when He does, you'll see the world that God intended and it will be a world without suffering. It will be a world without pain. It will be a world without physical weaknesses, impairments of any sort. For the lame will be leaping as a deer. The blind will see. The dumb will be singing the praises unto the Lord. And the ears of the deaf will be unstopped,

“for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and there will be streams in the desert. And the parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water: in the habitation of dragons, where each lay, shall be grass with reeds and rushes. And a highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called The way of holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it; but it shall be for those: the wayfaring men, though fools, they will not err therein. No lion shall be there, nor any ravenous beast shall go up there upon, it shall not be found there; but the redeemed shall walk there.” (Isaiah 35:6-9)

~ C.W. Smith

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This is not a picture of Jews coming back from Babylon, but a picture of sinners (Jews and Gentiles alike) leaving their sins and coming home to God through Christ.

James B. Coffman

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The path of Christians is not merely a new path, among the many with which the broad way is filled. They have not changed one mode of sinning for another — they have chosen the way of holiness. 

David Russell

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Christ, the way to God shall be clearly made known; and the way of a believer's duty shall be plainly marked out. Let us then go forward cheerfully, assured that the end of this way shall be everlasting joy and rest for the soul.

Matthew Henry

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Well, my Lord the King decided to build a highway from earth to heaven. It should span all the chasms of human wretchedness; it should tunnel all the mountains of earthly difficulty; it should be wide enough and strong enough to hold fifty thousand millions of the human race, if so many of them should ever be born. It should be blasted out of the "Rock of Ages," and cemented with the blood of the Cross, and be lifted amid the shouting of angels and the execration of devils. The King sent His Son to build that road. He put head and hand and heart to it, and after the road was completed, waved His blistered hand over the way, crying, It is finished.

 T. De Witt Talmage

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Isaiah 35 | NLT

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The Appian Way

You have heard of the Appian Way. It was three hundred and fifty miles long. It was twenty-four feet wide, and on either side the road was apath for foot passengers. It was made out of rocks cut in hexagonal shape and fitted together. What a road it must have been! Made of smooth, hard rock, three hundred and fifty miles long. No wonder that in the construction of it the treasures of a whole empire were exhausted. Because of invaders, and the elements, and Time — the old conqueror who tears up a road as he goes over it — there is nothing left of that structure excepting a ruin. But I have to tell you of a road built before the Appian Way. and yet it is as good as when first constructed. Millions of souls have gone over it. Millions more will come. ~ T. De Witt Talmage

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Definite aim and direction...

But to many men, the journey of life is one which has no definite direction deliberately chosen, which has no all-inclusive aim, which has no steady progress. There may be much running hither and thither, but it is as aimless as the marchings of a fly upon a window, as busy and yet as uncertain as that of the ants who bustle about on an ant-hill.

Now that is the idea, which our text implies, of all the activity of a godless life, that it is not a steady advance to a chosen goal, but a rushing up and down in a trackless desert, with many immense exertions all thrown away...

Most of us are like men who zig-zag about, chasing after butterflies! Nor are any such aims certain to be reached during life, and they all are certain to be lost at death... Surely, the labor of the foolish wearieth every one of them, because he knoweth not how to go to the city.

But Christ gives us a definite aim which is worthy of a man, which includes all others; which binds this life and the next into one... It is Jesus who goes before us, whether He leads us to green pastures and waters of quietness or through valleys of the shadow of death, and we can be smitten by no evil, since He is with us.

Alexander MacLaren

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Jerusalem....

The earthly Jerusalem was a splendid city; "beautiful for situation, and the joy of the whole earth, was mount Zion"; but even in the height of her greatness, when the glory of the Lord rested on her tabernacle, she afforded but a poor emblem of the heavenly city. At the time, however, to which the words of the prophet primarily relate, the contrast was peculiarly striking. The Zion to which the liberated Jews so joyfully returned, was "a wilderness, and Jerusalem a desolation." And where is Jerusalem now? Where is its temple? The heavenly Zion, however, knows no destruction and fears no change. It is "a city which hath foundations"; an abiding city. ~ C. Bradley

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The LORD does no forsake his people

We have NO example in Scripture of the Lord forsaking His people while they kept this way. The history of the people of Israel furnishes an illustration of this subject. Their males were required to go up to Jerusalem three times a year, to observe the great festivals of the law. Now, on such occasions, they had to leave their frontiers, their wives and children, and all their property, exposed to surrounding enemies. But God gave them a promise, that no man should desire their land, when they went up to appear before Him thrice in the year (Exodus 34:24). Accordingly, though they were surrounded by the most hostile nations, not a man of them felt the least inclination to touch a thing that belonged to Israel, so long as the law of God was observed. But when Israel forsook the law of their God, and had recourse to the help of idols and of men for their security, then the restraint which had been put upon their enemies was removed, and their land became the prey of invaders. ~ David Russell

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Isaiah 35: A vivid picture...

In Isaiah chapter 35, the prophet Isaiah paints a vivid picture of a scene filled with hope and restoration. The chapter describes a desert blooming with flowers, streams of water in the wilderness, and a highway called the Way of Holiness where the redeemed can walk. The setting is one of transformation and renewal, where the barren land is rejuvenated and made beautiful once again.

In this particular verse, we can imagine a group of weary travelers making their way along the Way of Holiness. Among them are individuals who have faced trials and tribulations, seeking solace and redemption. They have come from different walks of life, each carrying their own burdens and seeking the promised restoration that Isaiah speaks of. As they journey along this path of hope, they are filled with a sense of peace and anticipation for the blessings that await them at the end of their pilgrimage.

The surroundings are awe-inspiring, with lush greenery and vibrant flowers lining the path. The sound of water trickling from the streams brings a sense of tranquility to the travelers, refreshing their spirits as they continue their journey. The scene is one of transformation and renewal, where the promise of a brighter future is tangible and within reach for those who have faith and persevere along the Way of Holiness...

The obstacles that hinder our path to holiness are like a highway that is not set apart for the redeemed to walk on, but rather a road that is unclean and defiled. These obstacles lead us away from righteousness and can divert us from the straight and narrow path that God has laid out for us. They can create confusion, doubt, and temptation, making it difficult for us to stay focused on our journey towards holiness.

To overcome these obstacles, we must seek God’s guidance and strength to help us navigate the distractions and challenges that come our way. We can move past the barriers that hinder our path to holiness by keeping our eyes fixed on Him and allowing Him to guide our steps. Through prayer, devotion, and a willingness to surrender to God’s will, we can overcome whatever obstacles stand in our way and continue moving forward on our journey towards spiritual growth and transformation.

Michael Johnson

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Engineering has done much to tunnel mountains, and bridge abysses; but the greatest triumph of engineering is that which made a way from sin to holiness, from death to life, from condemnation to perfection. Who could make a road over the mountains of our iniquities but Almighty God?

None but the Lord of love would have wished it; none but the God of wisdom could have devised it; none but the God of power could have carried it out.

~ Charles Spurgeon

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'The unclean shall not pass over it'

All men are unclean by nature; some are cleansed by the grace of God and blood of Christ; and though, as sanctified, they are not free from sin and the pollution of it, yet, as justified, they are "the undefiled in the way"; and none but such can pass over, or pass through this way to heaven, Revelation 21:27,

"Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life."

John Gill