The Smitten Rock

Smitten Rock

     I wondered earlier why the Lord Almighty commanded Moses to smite the rock once during the exodus when the Israelites thirsted for water. When the portion of the Holy Word was read in the spirit, I was nourished greatly.  Exodus 17:3 says, that the Israelites thirsted for water. Then Moses cried out to the Lord regarding the grave need. The Lord in reply commanded Moses to take the same staff with which he stretched out to divide the sea and smite the rock at the Mount of Horeb.  We know in fact that it was the mighty God whose power had divided the seas and held it back with strong east wind all the night.  He made the sea dry land for the Israelites to pass through when the Egyptians were in pursuit.
Exodus 14:3, says that the crossing of the sea was for the Israelites to 'stand firm and see the salvation of the Lord'.  While they stood still, the Lord Almighty, Jehovah, the all inclusive and the all extensive One, fought for them.

Dry Land

     The Dry Land that appeared typifies the Lord Jesus Christ who is our Salvation. He is the way that separated us from the sinful world represented by Egypt. The Lord became our bridge of salvation. Hallelujah. Sea represents the world. The Exodus signifies the journey of church TODAY through the timeline towards the promised Land, The New Jerusalem. Hallelujah.

The Promised Land

      In Duet 9: 1-7, we read that God gave the promised Land to Israel, not because that they did extraordinary things and nor did they deserve it.  They were not some unique people, but
     1) Purely out of Grace,
     2) There was great wickedness in Canaan and
     3) The Lord's promise to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.
 Hallelujah, this grace. The same way, our Lord Jesus Christ is the promised land.  He is given to the church purely out of grace, by His work on the cross, according to the eternal plan of the Father. Amen.

     In Joshua 3:11, we see that the Ark of Covenant of the Lord crossing over before the Israelites into the Jordan. The Ark of Covenant is a type of Christ given to the Israelites. The Ark carried by the priests crossing the Jordan signifies the Lord as the forerunner of the church traversing through the timeline towards Eternity. When the feet of the priest touched Jordan, the water was cut off and the water from upstream stood in heap. What a sight! Hallelujah. The Lord is the river of life and Jordan represents the worldly flow that is separating the Promised Land from the church. The Lord's flow is unstoppable. The flow of the world that comes in His path is cut off, and divided. We see this in the history of church, how the flow of the Lord became more turbulent when the world tried to hinder it throughout the ages. Hallelujah.

     On one hand, the Lord is the dry land pathway through death waters and on the other He is also the flow of life passing through it. Hallelujah, He is also the destination, our Promised Land as well as the Rock that is smitten.  Also, He is the water that comes out of it.

     The death waters and the flow of the world hinders the flow of life, but the flow of the living water led by the Lord as the forerunner will flow to increase life in the thirsting ones. This flow begins from the throne of God Almighty and is flowing throughout the eternity. The Flowing God from God has become our all. This flow is uninterrupted, relentless. And this is His move today through his members, the body of Christ.

The Rock

     God is 'The Rock' (Duet 32:4) and this Rock begot us. While the Lord is the Living water of life, He is also the Rock. We should never neglect this Rock (Duet 32:18).
(Exodus 17:6) Why the Lord had arranged the Smitten Rock scene before the Israelites? While we know that neither Moses nor his staff had any hidden magical powers, it is the Lord who tore apart the rock and caused the water to come out of it. It is also significant to note that the Lord Almighty stood upon the rock before Moses. While the Lord could just bring forth water out of ground without the 'Moses smiting the rock' scene, He did it through Moses.  Many centuries later, a similar scene happened on the mount of Calvary, where the Lord Almighty stood and the Israelites smote the Rock, the Lord Jesus. They crucified the all inclusive embodiment of God on the cross.  It was according to the eternal plan of the Lord that he may become a life giving spirit flowing out of Him into the believers. The Lord Almighty's wisdom baffles us that He proved His steadfastness about His great plan. Three thousand or so years before, the Almighty had clearly shown Christ even before He was yet to be revealed. The Rock had to be smote for the water to come out of it. Hallelujah. The whole Bible is perfectly inline. Hallelujah. Just like neither Moses nor His staff had the power to smite the rock, neither men nor the crucifixion had the power to smite the Lord. It was the power of the Lord that smote the living Rock of Ages. His intention was that there would be release of an outflow of living waters for thirsting ones.

The Lord is our Rock.
The Lord is our Smitten Rock.
The Lord is outflow of water of life to the thirsty men.

Hallelujah.

Transforming into the image of Christ

Man was created in the image of God. Man fell. Then Christ came in the likeness of man, died for the sins of man and resurrected to become the life giving Spirit in the sinful man who believes into His name. Now man is redeemed, regenerated, transformed, sanctified, justified, made new, conformed and glorified moment by moment and day by day. In short God is recovering man to His own image, the initial image which he had lost before the fall. Not only that but God is recovering man to be His dwelling place, to be His bride. Hallelujah. Amen

EVERY WORD SPOKEN

Abundance of Good Treasure

Mat 12:33-37  

Either make the tree good, and its fruit good; or make the tree corrupt, and its fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by its fruit. Ye offspring of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. The good man out of his good treasure bringeth forth good things: and the evil man out of his evil treasure bringeth forth evil things. And I say unto you, that every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned. 

     The written Word of God is piercing and is capable of dividing soul and the spirit (Heb 4:12).  The living Word of God is the incarnated Christ who came down from the heaven and dwelt among us (John 1:14). The Lord who is the Truth  (John 14:6) says unto us is in complete confirmation that  man shall give an account for every idle word spoken.  'Idle' in Greek language means 'non-working'.  These non-working, unfruitful, unedifying words spoken has the power to condemn the speaker.  This condemnation will occur in the day of judgement.  The written Word confirms us today that the Living Word of God will sit upon the judgement seat and all men will render Him an account in the day of judgement. Mat 12:37 says, 'for by your word you shall be justified and by your words you shall be condemned.'  The Lords intention for men is for them to be justified in the first place and not condemned (2 Peter 3:9). So Let us watch and restrict our vain words and gossip and speak edifying, encouraging and life building words.  

     For escaping vain speaking, we need to have GOOD TREASURES in our hearts.  For out of the abundance of heart, the mouth speaks (Mat 12:34).  So, here we come to the crux of this message that is to have an ABUNDANCE of good things in our heart, which is the good treasure and not just an outward practicing of speaking or not speaking which we will fail eventually if we don't have the abundance of good things in our heart.  

     Our words will determine our destiny.  Our words will expose what is abundant in our hearts.  On one hand we speak and on the other we hear others speak.  When we hear others speak, we will know the abundance of their hearts.  When we speak, what words that comes out of our mouths is what we are inside. When I hear myself speaking naturally the things of God, it is an encouragement that I have something good in me.  This good is the good treasure that is God Himself who is living in us.  Amen.


When Christ lives in me, He is the good treasure that is in me.  Then out of the abundance of Christ in my heart, I will speak forth good things.  This good speaking justifies me and gives life to others.

Prayer:  Lord Jesus, after the Resurrection and the Ascension, You have become a life giving Spirit in the believers who have received You.  Today I pray believing that You are in me, to grow in me.  Lord Jesus, when You grow in me, Your measure in me will increase and when I speak, I will speak forth You.  Lord, You are life, When You grow in me, You life increases in me and there will be an outflow of good things from my life.  Lord, Thank You for these words.  Thank You for the good treasure.  Hallelujah, Amen.

     

Christ's Living is Christ's Shining

One living all the time

God's word should flow into us that His life may increase in us(Col 2:19, Joh 3:30).  His word to mankind is His Christ (Joh 1:1).  His word put on flesh and dwelt among us(Joh 1:14).  For this incarnated Word, doing the Father's will was the priority in His living (Mat 26:39, Gal 1:4).  He thus set a pattern for all His followers to lead a divine life pleasing to the Father.

All the riches of God are available in Christ (Eph_2:7, Rom 11:33).  When we are in Christ, these riches are available to us abundantly.  May God teach us the true meaning of being in Christ and enjoying His riches.  Let His grace pour into our lives, so that we may lead a life that is in Christ.  When we are in Christ, doing the Father's will will become our priority which is also our true bread (Joh 4:34).

God's unique work for today

God's unique work in this age is to work Himself into man (Eph 3:17a), so that He may produce a sanctified corporate entity, the church, which is His dwelling place (Matt 16:18, Acts 14:27, Acts 20:28, 1 Cor 12:28, Eph 1:4, 22-23).  This dwelling place in its consummation will become the New Jerusalem, adorned as the bride of Christ (Eph 5:25-27, Rev 21:2). The bride for His son is what the Father is working for from the beginning.

Grace

God working into man is called grace (2Cor 12:9).  Grace is nothing but experiencing God to produce God (Joh 1:17).  Often we hear people say that by the grace of God, they are doing fine.  They actually mean that in a particular situation, they experienced something of God's working which was beyond their ability of any logical explanation.  Grace is something we received freely without deserving it (Rom 3:24, 5:15).  Grace is a free gift which doesn't have anything to do with our efforts, talents, not even our own righteousness(Gal 4:31).  Hallelujah, what a gift!

What should be our attitude towards this work of the Triune God?

Christ has set a pattern for us to live today by His life, death, resurrection and ascension(John 1:4, 5:40, 6:33, 8:12, 12:25, Rom 8:10, Gal 2:20, 2 Thess 3:9, Eph 5:1) .  During the Lord's earthly days, His life was His work.  His work was His living (Eph 5:2).  In other words, He practised what He preached.  Our living should be like the Lord's living (John 15:4).  We should take His living as the pattern today for our living.  This is grace in an updated state, in an unlimited way.  Christ is grace.  When we live like Christ, we are living the life of grace.

Christ's silent years.

Our Lord Jesus lived for 30 years and ministered for 3 1/2 years.  Majority of the Bible scholars would describe the Lord's lifespan from 12 years to 30 years as 'silent years'.  Was it really silent? Did the years never existed?  If those years had passed just like the present years, then what was the Lord Jesus doing in those years?  Hallelujah, the living God was living in the world (Mat 16:16).  In those silent years  the glorious Son of God, the Mighty Father was living in the world.  In Luke2:49, we have a window of just one verse spoken by the Lord which might enlighten us further about the Lord's silent years.  

And he said unto them, "How is that ye sought me? Wist ye not that i must be about my Father's business?"

The Lord was found in the temple doing the Father's business at the age of 12.  His interest and His living were doing the Father's business, building His temple.  We can now know how He must have progressed in the subsequent years to do the Father's will.  Hallelujah.

Meditating upon the life of the Lord.

We can meditate upon this living of the Lord.  His living was His working.  His working was His living.  With Him there was no dual standards, but always single.  How often we stumble and are tossed around with our dual standards.  We have a standard in the church and another when we are in the world.  When there is a problem in our life, we forget or not believe that faith can move mountains (Mat 17:20).  One standard when we are praying and another when some situation demands our choice between surrendering to God and  depending upon our ability.  Brother Watchman Nee once traveled to Kulangsu in the Fukien province to do Lord's work.  His money was stolen and he didn't have sufficient money to buy the return ticket.  To his dismay, he also had rejected money form a believer he met at that place earlier.  The co workers was unaware of Brother Nee's financial condition.  Though he didn't have money, he stepped out in faith at that time rejecting many suggestions from the devil.  His eyes were filled with tears when he sees the Lord's providence.  The same brother whom he had refused earlier returned to give him a packet of food and a cover containing 4 dollars just enough to buy a bust ticket.  This time brother Nee accepted.  (The Third Testimony, Watchman Nee's Testimony) Here is an incident where a person is single minded without having dual standards, living for the Lord, in the Lord.  Hallelujah.

The Lord's earthly life

There is an account of the  Lord's earthly life in Hebrew 5:7 in which it is described that He offered prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears.  What an amazing report this is!  The Lord who is the heir of all the riches in the universe (Col 1:16,18) offered prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears.  though He is the Son of God, He learned obedience by the things He suffered (Mat 16:21, Rom 8:17).  We today who are in Christ need to learn such obedience by all the things we suffer.  We are the sons of God (Rom 8:14,19 Gal 3:26) and we are in Christ and it is God's desire that we may learn obedience through all things we suffer under His sovereign authority.

The Lord's living is His shining

The Lord is light (Mat 4:16, Joh 1:8-9, 3:19).  He is life (Joh 1:4).  His life is true light in us.  The Lord's living is light shining.  Hence when we have the Lord as the life giving Spirit in us, it simply means that Lord is shining in us.  Amen, Hallelujah.

In Phil 2:5-11, we see the Lord who being in the form God, thought not to be equal to the Father.  He humbled Himself and became obedient unto the death of cross.  He was humble and meek and took upon him the form of a servant and was made in the likeness of men.  the result of such a living before God in the earth is His highly exalted position in the universe in His ascension.  His name rose above all names. 

'Every knee would bow at His name.  Every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.'

The Pattern set by the Lord for us

The greatest worker lived silently for 30 years and then ministered for 3 1/2 years.  He was silent till God's appointed time when He began His work.  Today we need to learn to wait for the Lord's appointed time to express the Father and do His will according to His leading.  We need to pray for much grace regarding this matter.

The Lord Jesus says that on His own He does nothing (Joh 5:30, 6:38).  He seeks the will of the Father who sent Him.  This is an exact life which the Triune God desires for us today (Rom 6:11, 8:9).  We too should be allowing the Lord to live in us and through us.

Father and the Son are working to this day (Joh 5:17).  The Son is the life giving Spirit in us.  The Son is living in us (Rom 8:9).  The Father is living in us (Rom 8:9).  Their living is Their working.  Their working is Their living.  Amen, Hallelujah.

One Living all the time

We have one living for God in faith and another living to the world according to its standards.  When both these lives converge in the reality of the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit, we will be living a divine life that is a godly life.

This one living should be in the Spirit and all the time.  Let us pray for such a godly life by the Lord's rich mercy and grace.  

Amen.