Dear…
‘Hear, my sons, the instruction of a father, And attend to know understanding.: For I give you good doctrine, Forsake ye not My law…’
Proverbs 4:1
Hadrian’s Wall was the most heavily fortified border in the Roman Empire, a symbol of the might of Pax Romana and a defensive fortification in conquered Britain. Building works started in AD 122, no doubt on a much smaller scale than the Great Wall of China, but like its bigger sister, parts of it still stand today.
What has the concept of a wall got to do with our Christian faith? “Ring-fencing” is a modern and literal interpretation of the protective nature of walls. It usually denote the funds that are set aside for a project and cannot be spent on anything else.
‘So they read in the book in the law of God distinctly, and gave the sense, and caused them to understand the reading.’
Nehemiah 8:8
Nehemiah and the dispossessed Israelites not only completed the rebuilding of the physical wall of destroyed Jerusalem, but they also embarked on a rebuilding of the spiritual wall, to surround the hearts of chastised people with the love of God and His will, through His Word.
‘…For all the people wept, when they heard the words of the law….Then he said unto the, Go your way…neither be ye sorry; for the joy of the Lord is your strength.’
Nehemiah 8:9-10
These past one year, I have had the privilege of walking with some of you, as the Lord leads. And in coming together unto His presence, His Spirit has edified and affirmed our desire to be faithful, as He is faithful. The End Times are clearly intensifying, and indeed the harvest is already ripe for the picking. But will the nascent faith die an early death or will they grow from strength to strength? Many men and women of faith have plowed, sowed and watered through the years once “hard” grounds, but it is God Who is now bringing about the increase.
‘Then said Jesus unto them again, Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep….I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture..’
John 10:7-9
And it is the Spirit of God Who will nurture and sustain such budding flowers of tentative faith, but God wants those of us who have been blessed to have our veils lifted earlier to now be the builders of the boundary walls that will ensure that the sheep will not turn away from His purpose. And to ensure that the sheep is protected against the savage wolves in our midst. And our good Lord wants us to shepherd the flock towards our Lord Jesus Christ, our Chief Shepherd and the gate unto His Kingdom.
‘I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called.’
Ephesians 4:1
Freedom from the shackles of sin does not equate to the freedom to live as we pleased. For to do so will ensure a quick relapse to our sinful ways and a return to the full grasps of the waiting devil. Many might not comprehend nor accept that the Christian faith requires not just a letting go of our finite understanding, but also a willingness to let the Spirit of God lead us from here on. “Surrendering” runs against the very grain of the fallen human nature, where the bite of the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge have imbued in us the carnal need to look at self before others, to be our own god. Believing and repentance is the acceptance of the unearned forgiveness from God. It is just another step in our journey back unto the spirit man that God had planned for us, that the first man Adam brought awry. Following the second man, our Lord Jesus Christ is the next step in our walk with the Lord and this is where many will fall by the wayside if not properly shepherded.
‘That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men…’
Ephesians 4:14
‘If so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus…..And be renewed in the spirit of your mind. And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness..’
Ephesians 4:21-23
I know it is a privilege to be brought into a deeper relationship with our Lord. And yet, there is a need for a response from me and all who have by the grace of God matured in our faith. The need to share that experiential testimony of God’s faithfulness and Sovereignty with men and women whom God will bring into our paths as His Spirit begins to minister to them.
But I am also reminded as I pen this that we do not and must not come from a position of personal strength. Maturity of faith with God does not mean that we “talk down” to the sheep that He placed in our path. And in fact, God can and will allow us to go through storms even as we sail together with our fellow brethren. But will we, being imbued with His Spirit be able and willing to draw upon our living knowledge of His faithfulness and stay steadfast and anchored upon Him, much as our carnal self demands otherwise. Then will our brethren of newer faith truly witness the power of the gospel at work, then will they be willing to look to Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.
As I close this sharing, the Lord impressed upon my heart the record of Apostle Paul in Acts 27. Do take time to read and reflect upon Acts 27, for it sums up the journey that all who seek to the Lord will go through, whatever the stage of our Christian growth, but more importantly, the faithfulness of our Sovereign God.
Man looks at the temporal treasures, God prepares us for eternity. Will you be willing to throw overboard all remaining vestiges of our carnal life that marks us as part of the race of the fallen Adam, and instead, be now ready from a clean slate, by the saving grace of Christ, to be clothed in the likeness of the spirit man, to be like Christ?
‘And now I exhort you to be of good cheer: for there shall be no loss of any man’s life among you, but of the ship.’
Acts 27:22
God Blesses
Eng Hieang
(22nd July 2011)
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