[Proverbs 23:7] “For as he thinks in his heart, so is he:” When we change our thinking we change our life. Before we were saved we thought negatively, but now we are saved we are committed and commanded to change our concepts – “and be renewed in the spirit of your mind” [Ephesians 4:12]. Because we are justified, redeemed, forgiven, reconciled and adopted we CAN change our ways and thinking. The Holy Spirit is able to help us [John 16:13] “Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will show you things to come.”

We pick up influences constantly from other people, and our mentors mould our lives. Even if we reject what we have seen in others we are still responding automatically. When we come to Jesus we have the ability, through the Spirit, to unload all those negative programmes which have been stored on the hard disc of our memory. We can now live optimistically for we have the divine re-programmer at our disposal.

We are formed in our thinking by the time we march on life, and all through infant, adolescence and teenage years we have formed an indelible opinion that is time-warped in our personality. From that point on, we live on auto-pilot, and thus influence all that we have in Christ, causing us to fluctuate in our lifestyle.

The Bible has the answer. God has not made us “sons of God” as an arbitrary position but has given us the Spirit of power for a purpose. The WORD puts it this way: [Romans 12:2] “And be not CONFORMED to this world: but be TRANSFORMED by the RENEWING OF YOUR MIND, that you may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”

Paul writing to Timothy states that we are saved not only by an act of God’s righteousness, but by a constant work of the Spirit: [Titus 3:5] “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and RENEWING OF THE HOLY GHOST;” This “renewing” is a constant thing not a once and for all act, never to be repeated.

To renew your mind is not to educate the memory, the judgement or the perception but to change the whole mental outlook, the “spirit” of our mind. It is the programme which works and operates all we do. It is the preconditioning that affects our memory, judgement and perception and colours all our thinking about Christ and His kingdom.

When we commit ourselves to Christ, there is more to life than attending church, although that is important, but a new lifestyle to enjoy. We live between services not for them, and the ministry of life becomes dynamic as we develop a positive lifestyle that reflects our sitting at the King’s top table. We are His sons, and clothed in the finery of salvation we live, act and respond from that standpoint. We have not been born sons of the King to live at subsistence level, for when we met Jesus, He transformed our natural birth, by a new birth and we are now framed ready to live differently – but will we?

The fastness of life negates the ability to wait on God, by waiting for God. “But those who wait on the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.” [Isa. 40:31] .We are the children of the vine, engrafted into the royal source of strength. We are fruitful in proportion to His flowing life-imparting, fruit-producing power.

The English workforce works daily more than any other country in Europe; they have little time for their children and no time for God. The inspiration derived from sitting at the well of meditation has been pushed out of their lives with scores of necessities. There is competition for our time and money, and the world has mastered sufficient allurements to dispossess us of both.

It has taught us that to sit and wait for God is a waste of time, there must be constant action. Modern preaching has adopted a similar sense, teaching principles of unremitting activity. We are for ever storming the battlements of hell and possessing the land of promise; repeatedly walking around the walls of Jericho. This has been triggered because people in the past have sat for too long at the well of meditation until they have become mystical, and so heavenly minded that they are no earthly use.

“The LORD is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul who seeks Him. It is good that one should hope and wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD.” [Lam. 3:26]. The reason antiques are expensive is because they have lasted the rigours of time. They were made when time was taken to build something not only beautiful but lasting. God rushed Joseph into a position of authority only after thirteen years in captivity.

Like Samson of old we cry to God just one more time to wreak vengeance on our enemies and, calling and waiting on God, we find renewal for our strength. As he waited in his blindness he was given yet another opportunity to excel for God. While he waited his hair grew. “A minister of Christ is often in highest honour of men for his performance of one half of his work, while God is regarding him with displeasure for the neglect of the other half.” [Matthew Henry]. We may work more than we wait. That is a reversal of spiritual common sense.

Living in Simple Separation

Here is the spin-off of waiting before God: “And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified by the truth.” [John 17:19].The secret of sanctification is found in John 17:17 “Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.” Sanctification is to be set-apart, to hallow and to make clean.

Our walk in purity is an answer to most things. People want prayer because they are not living victoriously; they are not living victoriously because they are not living in the WORD. A prayer at the front of the church cannot substitute for prayer in your closet. Your personal life of holiness is a well that needs to be re-opened. Many of our problems stem from walking unruly and unrighteous.

“The electronic industry is trying to clean up its act as well as its chips by moving over from polluting solvent to greener cleaners. At the moment the industry uses hydrogen peroxide, hydrochloric acid and ammonium hydroxide to remove dirt particles from chips during manufacture. They are now using a deep ultraviolet excimer laser to zap any dirt particles.”

This is because light loosens dirt. The Christian should already know that what the science laboratory has discovered has an application to the spiritual realm – nothing is new to God. As He draws nearer we find our dirt becomes clearly visible. In proportion to His nearness comes the associated ability, it cleanses us from all unrighteousness.

Four answers – to live like Moses
First, faith that overcomes and comes to maturity will do so when in our natural selves we are VULNERABLE and helpless. Our own strength undermines faith for it rests on effort. 
Second, there must be a complete confirmation that we are central to the divine will. When we are uncertain as to HIS leading there cannot be assurance in stepping out on the invisible road of God. 
Third, there must be an acceptance that God knows what He is at, and that He wants our ultimate good for His perfect will. We must be convinced that the providences that surround us and marshal our way are for our benefit.
Fourth, there is a necessity to exclude feelings from our reckoning in determining our approach to any situation in and for God. Feelings often lie and underlie our moods and it is not our emotions that prove God, but His word.

Glitter or Gloom
Moses was faced with a choice, like many of us today.  He stands as an example as did Christ, who chose a cross to save us from condemnation.   Our choices must have the stamp of eternity upon them.   Moses was faced with ascending a throne and receiving all the wealth, glory and honour that went with that office ‑ the “glitter”, or to reject all that the natural man longs for and associates with the “gloom”  of Israel’s plight.

The Eternal Values
The measure of maturity in our choices will be evidenced by our concept of the “BEFORE”.   Jesus for “the joy that was set BEFORE Him, endured the cross…” [Hebrews 12:2]. Four words characterize Moses.   He “refused”, “chose”, “esteemed” and forsook” [Hebrews 11:24, 25, 26, 27].  All these are marks of the committed man, who is seeking the purpose of God for his life.  The examples in scripture are numerous; Daniel [Daniel 1:8], Joshua [Joshua 24:15 and Jesus [Phil. 2:6‑8].  It is interesting that when Abraham and Lot were faced with a choice it was Lot who chose the land of plenty in the environment of Sodom and finished up with a crippled testimony.

Pay day is coming, and when we stand before Christ on that final judgment day [2 Corinthians 5:10] we shall all give an account of the choices we have made and the life we have led.  John in his Revelation tells us that “lukewarmness” is as much a sin as coldness in spiritual zeal [Revelation 3:15, 16].  The negative aspect of life that prohibits choice actually determines choice which favours the world.  We should therefore, not lift up our eyes before lifting up our hearts, as did Lot, before making any decision.  For he chose one step down and two steps in and finished up running for his life.

The Heartside of God [Exodus 2:11, 12]
The backside of the desert is the heartside of God, and Moses found that the entrance to God’s university was through a wilderness.  Moses had tried to deliver Israel with his own strong arm, and being the head of Egypt’s armies, had proved what a powerful and effective arm that was.  He knew in himself that the killing of the Egyptian was wrong for the scripture says he “looked this way and that way”, furtiveness is evidence that God is not in it.   The fear of man is ignored when we are certain God is in the action.

God’s Bible Class
Moses wanted to do what God wanted, but in his own way.  It was the only way he knew and being well qualified in all the known skills of his day, thought human ingenuity was sufficient.  It is said that Moses was the “meekest man on earth” and as such must also have been the strongest, for meekness is strength under control.  But, as with many of us, we have not learnt God’s mind on a matter and resort to finite reasoning and effort to secure what God can do perfectly through His almighty power.  He then gets the glory and we fade into the background as supporting cast!

God educates us by stripping us of the ability to “do” things.  The pity that Moses showed was not sufficient, for pity based on human sympathy will not stand up to provocation, and Moses was to lead about two million grumbling sheep (Israel), through a hostile wilderness.  He had gone from being a prince to a pauper and a soldier to a shepherd and, in that new found discipline, became all that what God wanted.   Self‑sufficiency is always the rot at the base of the post, and God has to cut out that which would weaken the edifice of our lives. When his face had been shot blasted by the wind driven sand and he looked like the scrub he lived amongst and was “content” to dwell in the desert, without sense of glory and deliverance, God used him to conquer the might of Egypt.

God created man and placed him in Eden. Man sinned and God started again with Noah, but he failed.  His third attempt was Abram who became Abraham, and from him was to come forth a nation who would give lineage to the Messiah.  This nation would be provided for amidst a famine, which by God’s providence Joseph accomplished.  This sojourn in the land of Egypt would last for just over 400 years and then they would be led out of the land from great oppression by a new and God‑appointed leader, who would take them to a land of His choosing to fulfil the promise given to Abraham [Genesis 13:14‑17 especially 15:13 ‑ 16].

That man who was to lead the children of Israel to their new destiny was Moses, the beautiful child of the Nile.  He was born to humble parents under the oppression of Pharaoh, and escaped by the divine hand ordering the sequence of events that led him to a perfect training for the task of delivering about two million people.

Training, Training, Triumph

Moses’ life was split into three periods. He was trained for forty years in all the arts, crafts, sciences and military might of Egypt, and then trained for forty years unlearning human reason and might, depending only upon God.  After these eighty years he was ready to be used by God for the next forty years in shepherding the wilful children of Israel.  A description of the man is found in [Deuteronomy 33:1, 5; 34:7; Ezra 3:2], but probably the scripture that speaks about him the most powerfully is found in [Deut. 34:10‑12] ‑ “But since then there has NOT arisen in Israel a prophet like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face, in all signs and wonders which the Lord sent him to do in the land of Egypt, before Pharaoh, before all his servants, and in all his land, and by all that mighty power and all the great terror which Moses performed in the sight of Israel” 

The honour of the Egyptian courts and the highest knowledge of that day were his. He had been adopted by an Egyptian princess who was next to the throne and he was destined for the ultimate rulership of that kingdom.  History records that he twice refused to ascend the throne and chose rather to suffer affliction with his brethren [Heb. 11:24]. His lifestyle became an example of FAITH, that which was the characteristic of the great men of Genesis.  Five times it says in Hebrews 11 that it was “By faith” and if it was “By faith” it could not be by sight, and this being so, God had to rid him of the dependence of the rational education of Egypt and thrust him into a domain where all he had learned had to be restructured by a visible trust in an invisible God.

God’s Timing and Training

God’s men may seem to lie idle for many years in obscurity, but at the RIGHT time they will emerge.  God may take a lifetime to prepare us for a task at the end of our life, so we should not be too anxious to press God before HIS time to send us out.  Moses wanted to deliver Israel from their bondage, but his method was not right, so God had to get him away from that influence that would tempt him to use human resources, and whilst he was away from that environment, to rid him of that lusting after natural achievement. We read in Genesis that Joseph fled temptation, but it is “NOT ONLY, BUT,” not only run from the allurement, but also die to it so that whilst running one is not hankering after it!  It took God forty years with Moses.

If Moses had ascended the throne Israel would not have left Egypt, their conditions would have been made tolerable by an act of sovereign judgment by their friend Moses. They would have stayed and been influenced by Egyptian theology, adopting the philosophy of that alien land and culture. God wanted a pure worshipping nation separated unto himself so that He could bring forth the Saviour of the World ‑ the environment in Egypt was hardly conducive for this.

Fourfold Foundational Principle All this was achieved because Moses “by faith” moved out into a wilderness; he “refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God…” [Hebrews 11:24].  See next week for continuation . . .

The Faithfulness He Defines

Jesus “set His face to go to Jerusalem”[1] – a concrete decision, “set” for all eternity; is it unusual if his servants are like-minded? The Watchman is ardent to pursue the objects to which he has been called, heroic in endurance, daring in Divine pursuits, patient in tribulation, constant in adversity. We read disappointing things in the Bible, like Paul’s lament, “Demas has forsaken me, having loved this present world”,[2] but not the Watchman. He remains faithful following his course.   He gives “diligence to make his call and election sure” through the night until the dawn.    He knows how to “Endure hardship as a good soldier”.[3]  

Too often men acknowledge everything but apply nothing. A torpid, inert faith is at best a fallacy. The testimony of vital faith is continuous action. Jesus showed the way; He stepped out of the cradle and walked without stopping into the throne-room of God.   The Watchman realises that he must “labour…..for the meat that endureth”[4] that “everlasting substance” encountered through Christ. Even as he stands amid the gathering gloom he takes note of the transient conditions. Applying himself to the promises of God, he takes on the immortal character of the immortal seed. Once rooted it grows apace until it brings forth the fruit of faithfulness.

The Encouragement He Speaks.[5]  

The Revelation He Distils – “To distil” means “to let drops fall.” This is the function of the Watchman. We see “through a glass darkly”[6] now, but then face to face. Until that time of fullness, when perception becomes perfect, we are encouraged in “the way.” The Watchman interprets to us the growing dawn. When at the point of despair he shouts to us, “The morning cometh!” and fresh strength flows into ebbing souls. The Watchman was watching for the captivity tribulation to finish, ready to speak those longed- for words.

When Joseph was in prison there came a day when two men – a butler and a baker – had dreams. Both were troubled by these images in the mind, but when Joseph came to the cell in the morning he revealed to them that their dreams were to become their destinies. Do we see things that are difficult to understand?

The Redemption He Depicts – Our salvation is not yet complete. God has not brought us out of bondage to see us in confusion. Whereas the Old Testament saints hardly had a dawn, we are living in the morning rays of revelation.  “The path of the just is as a shining light that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.”[7]  Our salvation is one deliverance after another. The Watchman points out to us that the final deliverance is yet to be. Do you not hear his cry, “It is coming” – “to wit, the redemption of the body”? Every day is a triumph with God, but one day the final trumpet will be blown and life will be swallowed up in life.

The Israelites at the Red Sea moaned at God. Pharaoh said that “the wilderness had shut them in”8 and they were encamped before “Baalzephon”.[9] But God moved and in the morning they went across the dry river bed. Would the God who prevented even the dogs curling their tongues at His people let them perish under the sword in the wilderness? Of course not! When we are tempted to be like them and grumble at the providence’s of God let us bend our ear to the Watchman and remember that our redemption draws near!

The Resurrection He Desires – With the morning comes a new beginning with aspirations and attempts at new heights. The failures of yesterday are forgotten in the possibilities of the new day. The wrongs of past defeats righted in the glory of the rising sun. There is more than hope ringing in that Watchman’s voice. He is convinced that man is to be formed of dust once again as God’s breath breathes into the stubborn sod on that resurrection morning.  He has noted the time and realises that it is almost upon us.

The Watchman delivers the whole counsel of God. “The morning cometh and also the night;” for some sunshine, for others darkness. In Genesis the butler was lifted up to the throne, the baker to a scaffold. To the one it was a new day, to the other an eternal night.   God has set the Watchman in the Church so that all may hear. “He that hath ears let him hear.” [10]

[1] Luke 9:51

[2] 2 Timothy 4:10

[3] 2 Timothy 2:3

[4] John 6:27

[5] Isaiah 21: 11,12.

[6] 1 Corinthians 13:12

[7] Proverbs 4:18

[8] Exodus 14:3

[9] Exodus 14:2

[10]Revelation 2:7

He Declares His Task

The appellation ‘Watchman’ designates his calling. This is no position for the secret disciple, for he makes a sniper’s dream come true. He stands in the forefront of danger for his fellows’ sake, stands in supreme display against the arrows of adversity, and takes the brunt of the first fight. When Christ walked this earth, His Church was but twelve men and since that time a few have enlisted to sickle the harvest. Although the earth is God’s ‘footstool’[1] it is also the place of open rebellion and the catch pit of Christian service. He who stands to tell the sweetness of redeeming grace will find the bitterness of sin a constant source of trial. The Watchman speaks aloud to that vast, heedless throng that hurtles through life from crisis to crisis, missing the vital victory in Christ.

He sounds ‘an alarm to the unconverted.’ Nothing alters his determination to deliver the Word of God.  He bends his soul in delightful acquiescence to God’s perfect will, a powerful purpose reigns singly in his breast. He realises that if he is to be ‘pre-eminent in disaster’ then he must be ‘neglectful of privilege’. Having received the sprinkling of God’s rare blessedness, an eternal stream must be poured upon the barren soil of men’s hearts; this unalloyed joy must be committed to all who hear. Like Paul he says, ‘I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation.’[2]  Because of this understanding he is what he is. No one would stand where he stands unless a miracle had moved his feet to higher ground.

The Endurance He Shows[3]

The Fervency He Displays
The word to notice in this text is ‘night,’ a word that can cause the heart to fear, a shrouded dimness that speaks of evil. ‘Men love darkness rather than light because their deeds are evil.’[4] The legions of hell plot their wicked machinations under cover of darkness. Since Adam fell, the world has entered a night that has plunged many a wayward sinner into abysmal separation from God. When Jesus came it was to those who ‘sat in darkness’.[5]  When He left the cross He went to the domain where fallen spirits are reserved ‘in chains of darkness’ until the judgement.’[6]

This world is plunging deeper into gross darkness as men set themselves in array against God, “they glorified Him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.”[7] Wherever you look there is a growing animosity against the things of God. The mark of Cain is rampant throughout the land as wilful disobedience to God’s laws sweeps through every strata of society. Furious currents sweep against the bulwarks of truth, threatening to smash the very citadel of God.

‘Watchman, what of the night?’ – Aye, he can well say, for a floodtide of sin is approaching.   He stands within splashing distance of sin’s angry spray, but shakes himself before the blazing warmth of God’s Spirit. His voice takes on a passion that is born from a heart concern for trembling saints. He stands among the growing darkness inflamed with divine urgency.   His fervour knows no end. Constantly, against bitter tides of opinion, he points men to God.   He cries a warning, turns men to their stations, and directs them to the precepts of God.  Does he tire? Is he weary? Yes, yes – but not defeated!

The Fearlessness He Discloses

Most people at some time or other have been afraid of the dark; the Watchman is no exception. But with Christ he is more than able to overcome the most spiteful foe. Like Silas, he sings in the prison stocks. Christ is his closest Friend and faithful Brother; He fills his soul with Divine delight. He has become aware that greater is He that is in him than he who is in the world. There is an inner iron, a metal of the soul. Perfect love has cast out all fear. The past is past, the future is safe, and the present is in His hand. He says: “Who delivered us from so great a death, and doth deliver us: in whom we trust that yet He will deliver us;”[8] past experience, current emergency and future expectation are all in His sovereign hand. Every day he feels God’s hand, for every day the Devil speaks his cunning. He calls to mind the words of Job: “He shall deliver you in six troubles, yes; in seven no evil shall touch you.[9]“Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the LORD delivers him out of them all.”[10] He does not stand alone; the Forerunner has gone on before. The veil has been rent; he is now anchored in that which is within the veil.11 So are we!

[1] Matthew 5:35                      7 Romans 1:21

2 Romans 1:16                         8 2 Corinthians 1:10

3 Isaiah 21:11,12                     9 Job 5:19

4 John 3:19                              10Psalm 34:19

5 Matthew 4:16                      11 Hebrews 6:19

6 Jude 1:6

The church is the object of God’s constant watch.  ‘I the Lord do keep it; I will water it every moment; lest any hurt it, I will keep it night and day.’^[1]  Whatever the peculiar situation of the modern church, whatever the form or nature of its trials, the enemy is one.  Heresies may damage its purity and persecution thin its ranks, but the foe that sows the one and kindles the other is the devil. Visible malice against the sons of God is evident, but though small and often weak, we are refreshed by God’s influence and kept by His power.  He promises that ‘when the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against Him.’ 

We can be assured that whatever assault the enemy may encourage, God’s interposition is certain.  The promise is true to those who falter.  “He will keep the feet of His saints.² To help against this continual opposition, God has set in the church watchmen, men who can see and seek out the mingled seed within the fields of Zion.³   They stand unflinching watching for the devil’s devilry.

The Example He Sets.⁴

He discerns the truth – There is a flood of error sweeping the present church. Many will be side-tracked to issues mortal and mundane. The real spiritual energy that propels the church to action must be preserved at and in all times. The watchman perceives the darkening around the bright circle of revelation. The cancer spots of false doctrine must be cut out with a knife “sharper than any two-edged sword;”⁵ so many are caught up in a wrangled, tangled web of theological nonsense, putting the cart of mortality before the horse of faith.  One cannot travel far through church history without treading on tares subtly sown alongside the wheat.  All too evident is the painful discovery that an insidious insertion has been made into the simple sanctity of the faith.

The Watchman is called to set before the souls of men a standard built into the living fabric of the soul, a level of attainment based upon lasting dedication. He is the guardian to stand upon the buttresses of life, to safely keep the trust committed to his care.  A sentinel to turn the hosted legions back upon themselves, confusing sin’s disorder by a standard red with blood; to thrust a searching glance through every ordered thing and show the captive sons of love the error of their ways.

When all around is undermined by awful degradation, he takes the lawless rules of men into the code of God and shows the senseless, stubborn heart the perfect way to heaven, seeks for that golden truth that burns sevenfold more brightly as the days grow darker, knowing like old Jacob, who in the eventide of life guided his hands ‘wittingly’⁶upon the heads of Joseph’s sons.

He Determines the Time – “Watchman, what of the night?” or ‘What time is it?’ It interrogates the Watchman and checks the conception of the situation; for how long has he been waiting?  How long is there until the dawn? Every passing moment has brought him closer to a new eternity. He is aware that in the midst of the watch the progression of it. He counts the passing hours in terms of unwrapping a new era. He assesses the hours past in point of time to those which are to come. Sleep has lain heavy on his lids, but he has not slumbered.

The night is a dark unknown and terror awaits; he must be equal to the task. Not to him does Jesus say, “Could you not watch with me one hour?”⁷ He knows that the long promises of God are short in heavenly measure, that “they who through faith and patience inherit the promises,”⁸ clearly he understands that God who can pass 1000 years with the twitching of His eye, can faithfully say “that his salvation is nearer now than when he believed.”^9.He is insistent to make every season acceptable that nothing may perish. He cries, “The night is far spent and we are not saved!”¹⁰  He has numbered his days that he may apply his heart unto wisdom because man is mortal; only God is “from everlasting to everlasting.”¹¹ He knows that in the gathering gloom it is time to serve the Lord.  Like Noah, who in the morning of his life made a boat for the evening of the world, spends his time timely employed, balancing bare necessities against the demands of a stricken world.  So should we.

^[1] Isaiah 27:3                            ⁷ Matthew 26:40

² Isaiah 2:9                              ⁸ Hebrews 6:12

³ Leviticus 19:19                     ⁹ Romans 13:11

⁴ Isaiah 21:11-12                    ¹⁰Romans 13:!2

⁵ Hebrews 4:12                       ¹¹ Psalm 41:13

⁶ Genesis 48:14

“They do not return to the Lord their God, nor  seek Him for all this” [Hosea 7:10]

The basis of all religion is to seek God.  Israel was led and so encouraged that their lives through history have been a pageant of God’s unfathomed favour and wonder in a miraculous manifestation of provision and divine grace.  Yet for all that showering of benefaction and overshadowed blessing the word describes their state unflatteringly:  “. . . I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against Me’ Alas, sinful nation . . . They have forsaken the LORD, they have provoked to anger the Holy One of Israel, they have turned away backward’ ” [Isa 1:2, 4].

Although we may reproach them for their repeated waywardness, in spite of God’s favour, we must ask ‘are we any better in following God; does our heart stand with them or are we committed in full surrender to God’s purpose and will?’ To examine that conjecture we must consider what following or seeking God really is. It’s not complicated but may prove difficult because of the vagaries of our nature.  Adam left us a legacy of doubt and mistrust in God’s word, which rumbles through our conscious and automatic response to Him.  However we do know that “God is with the generation of the righteous.” [Ps 14:5]. Are we part of that august company?

Our unquestionable duty.

First:  “Remember now thy creator in the days of thy youth.” [Ecc 12:1. The encouragement to mankind starts early in their life, “For in him we live, and move, and have our being; . . .  for we are his offspring,” [Acts 17:28].  There is a liability mandate upon us to seek our creator, simply because he is our creator.  We should always seek the highest good and He, our God, is the highest good, and the best of all things.  Our expectation, satisfaction and fulfilment can only be in Him. None other can provide us with those aspects of life that will fill us, thrill us and still us in the storms of life.  But, in reality we are, as Adam’s sons, far from Him, and we have turned to our own ways.  “Let us search and try our ways, and turn again to the LORD” [Lam 3:40].

Therefore the principal thing is to seek God and find Him; this is to be above all other aims in life. To do this our vision is automatically directed to the Son of His love, the manifestation of the Godhead in the flesh.  “I and my Father are one.” [John 10:30] and Jesus said to him, “He who has seen Me has seen the Father;” [John 14:9]. If we don’t find him in His sacrificial love he will find us as a consuming fire. [Heb 12:29]. Let Jeremiah speak to us: “Thus says the LORD: ‘Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, let not the mighty man glory in his might, nor let the rich man glory in his riches; But let him who glories glory in this, that he understands and knows Me,”  [Jer. 9:23-24]. Thus we should spend all to know him. The theme of the gospel is to prepare a people for the Lord [Luke 1:17], and that can only be done by seekers finding and knowing God.

Second: We ought to enjoy Him, but we cannot enjoy someone with whom we have a rage. The command “Come boldly to the throne of grace,” [Heb 4:16] is for those who have received responsive forgiveness.  God’s “lovingkindness is better than life, “[Ps 63:3] and how can God shower upon us those blessings of mercy when we fail to walk in his way and acknowledge him as our Saviour?  But, He is more than that, He is our benefactor and preserver and therefore he is our life, and keeper of our ways. The word says “Our father which art in heaven,” [Matt 6:9] but he is nearer than that, for “In Him we live, and move, and have our being.”  [Acts 17: 28]. We walk with him because we agree with him. [Amos 3:3]. For “in his favour is life.”

Thirdly, we seek him to be like Him.  We become like the thing or person we worship, in all aspects of life. The reasonable command is this:  “that you may proclaim [shew forth] the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvellous light;” [1 Pet 2:9]; transformed into His likeness to reveal eternal treasure [2 Cor. 4:7]. We cannot resemble him in his divine attributes, omnipotence, omniscience and omnipresence, but certainly in his human qualities; love grace and mercy.

“The tongues of dying men enforce attention like deep harmony,” (William Shakespeare, Richard II, II. 1-6), and if we had time and space we could print the final words that history has recorded of many famous people.  Here are just few, unattributed words –

“Honey, get me the fork the darn toaster’s jammed. 

“Why yes honey, I do think you look fat in that dress.  

“See, I told you the current’s off.”

“For my next trick I will escape from this flaming coffin while wearing a strait jacket and singing Eye of the Tiger.”

“Don’t worry, I read somewhere that bears mostly eat roots and berries.”

In a more serious vein we could quote the final words of hotel chain boss Conrad Hilton who is said to have uttered the immortal words: “leave the shower curtain on the inside of the tub,” – perhaps we could all learn from that?

It is reputed of Charlie Chaplin (1889 – 1977) as his final gasp to the priest who was attending him, and who had said: “May the Lord have mercy on your soul,” Chaplin replied: “Why not? After all, it belongs to Him.” Georges Chavez was a Peruvian aviator who in 1910 competed for a $15,000 prize donated by promoters in Milan, Italy, for the first flyer to cross the Alps between Brig, Switzerland, and Domdossia, Italy. Most of the aviators were scratched because of inferior credentials and the remaining few dropped out, leaving Chavez to attempt the record. Although buffeted by high winds he kept control of the plane, and as the crowds cheered, he made it across the mountains, but the wings dropped off and immediately the plane fell like a stone. He suffered massive internal injuries and as he lingered in semi-consciousness he was heard to mutter, “Arriba. Siempre arriba. “Higher. Always higher.”  That is something that many sincere Christians must breathe every time they pray?

John Barr, one of the foremost deliverance men in the country ofrecent years and highly respected in the Elim movement, died a few years ago. I don’t know what his last words were, or even if his wife would remember, but we all say he cannot be replaced, which reminds me of an epitaph written about Wallace Berry “No man is indispensable, but some are irreplaceable.”

We cling to the final words they utter to keep the memory alive.
There was an aged Baird who was at the point of death, and there was a crowd of disciples clustered around his bed waiting for his final gift of wisdom. At last as the leading disciple leant over him he was heardto whisper “life is like a river.”  The first disciple passed the phrase on to the next and it went down the line until it reached the last one, who, thinking it through asked the question, “Why, is life like a river?”   Back the question came up the line of disciples until the first one leant over the dying man and said, “Why is life like a river?”  At first, there was no response but gradually he stirred and very weakly replied – “Perhaps it isn’t then!”

To me, the greatest final words uttered on this earth must be those spoken by Jesus Christ, the one I endeavour to loyally serve. Here they are: “And He said to them, ‘Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.’”(Mark 16:15-19).

We should let those words sink down deep into our ears, for they were the sum total of Christ’s ministry here on earth. “He came not to be ministered unto but to minister and give his life as a ransom for many,” (Matthew 20:28). Perhaps we should also?

Abraham was a man of the altar, Jacob of tents but Isaac of wells. “Now Isaac came from the way of Beer Lahai Roi, for he dwelt in the South.”[Genesis 24:62]   Abraham made a point of living in sacrifice.  Jacob held things lightly, ready to move (from his brother), whereas Isaac valued the need for continually drawing life-giving water.   After his resurrection from the altar of offering (Genesis 22) where God became “The God who is there” Isaac dwelt by the well of Beer Lahai-Roi.  Whenever there is a cross there is a well of spring water to follow.
Jesus went through Calvary to Pentecost.

Beer Lahai-Roi was an in-between place – Kadesh and Bered. No matter where we are in the no man’s land of uncertainty, providing there is a well, all will be well.   There are several people reading this who face uncertainty, and are experiencing a life in the middle lands of nothingness. The twilight of uncertainty is made allowable by the fresh water of promise. Learn to live by wells, they will refresh in the dust storms of life.  Recognise the seasons and plan for the future. When the river runs in flood dig a well and wait.

Isaac leftBeer Lahai-Roi and moved to Gerar because there was a famine.   God appeared to him and promised to bless him there. It is essential that we have godly revelation to guide us in our journeying and our sojourning. Life should be based on divine disclosure.It cannot be otherwise. Isaac knew that his father Abraham had dug wells in that land, and as he moved he assumed that there would be a supply in the famine. The wells of his father speak of past water holes of promise. Each church generation has opened wells, so that those following can refresh themselves.

Always ensure that you get divine revelation in life, there can be no greater under-girding to our peace.  Often when I return from some glorious holiday spot and approach London and witness the traffic congestion, crowded streets, high level of pollution and exalted house prices I grumble at the prospect of such an environment, but the call of God transforms the grot into the glory.  God speaks and we receive divine revelation. We now have a well in Harrow. By God’s grace it has been and those who come next will be blest by that artisan supply.

We can face anything if we know that God is pleased with our decision.  “Then the LORD appeared to him and said: “Do not go down to Egypt; live in the land of which I shall tell you.”[Genesis 26:2]   The thought of going to Egypt had obviously crossed Isaac’s mind, or else God would not have commanded him not to.  Egypt is a symbol of Israel’s captivity and constant allurement, yet a source of continual temptation. It typifies the teaching of Israel’s determination to cling to the old and familiar rather than walk with God in the invisible realms of prospect.  God’s unknown will always be better than the world’s immediate satisfaction.   Abraham went there in a famine, and finished up with a bad testimony. [Genesis 12:10ff.] Once we are in Egypt we can sacrifice our integrity and compromise truth. We either deceive ourselves or others, or both.

It is only grace that keeps us, and grace is unmerited favour. King Abimelech rewarded him for his lack of integrity and he entered a new phase of his life, a life of prosperity. Grace has as its foundation that which allows and encourages us to build a greater trust and a deeper faith. When God enters and grace follows we are humbled into service, because we don’t deserve his mercy.

There may be times when we may not have acted with integrity but He blesses us anyhow.   God is always the first to initiate reconciliation and rewards us when we don’t deserve it.  What he did at salvation he continues in life.  This does not mean we should walk in sin to challenge God to extend mercy, but if we do fall into error, He is swift to reconcile.