Exodus 15: 22-27; 16: 1 (to “wilderness of Sin”)
We have all begun the Christian path, have all come to Christ as Saviour. We have all been saved by the precious blood of the Lord Jesus. We have all set out on that path, the Christian path. We are at various stages in it. You might recall in your own history the first steps you took after conversion, and what the change was in the circumstances in which you found yourself; in the same place, same town, same school, same office, but things had changed, something had changed. God had worked in your soul. Conversion is a wonderful thing. It is a real thing, conversion. It is not just a matter of the mind and accepting things in the mind, even the things of God. It is not that. It is more than that. Has there been a change in you and me? New birth has taken place. The Spirit of God has worked sovereignly in each of our hearts to bring about a change in our spirits; our own spirit changes, a new creature begins to develop, and it comes to fruition at one point when you confess Christ as your Saviour, and that is the simplicity of Christianity. You then do not desire, according to the type, to live in Egypt where you once were in the sin system. You do not want to live there. You have a desire to be here for the Lord Jesus. Your tastes have changed. You have been made a partaker of the divine nature, wonderful thing! Then you receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. That is another transaction that takes place, maybe not immediately, but it takes place in any case. You set out, you cross the Red Sea. You move into another area in your pathway, a different walk, a walk that Romans 6 speaks about as “newness of life” (Rom 6: 4), and you come into the wilderness.
That is where I began: “And Moses brought Israel from the Red Sea, and they went out into the wilderness of Shur”. You find you need Christ. They come to the bitter waters of Marah and the wood is cast in. It speaks of Christ. There is initial experience in the believer’s history, and he learns it in a simple way in his life’s history when he sets out on the path of faith. We learned it initially. We all learned it when we were young and thereafter going through life you learn at different stages what these matters are that I am going to speak about, the pilgrim pathway and what you meet on that pathway. You spend Lord’s day amongst the saints, and that is wonderful. You touch a sphere of privilege where the pressures of death are lifted from your spirit. You are in another realm for a time, sustained only for a time. That is all we are equal to, but your spirit is refreshed. Then on Monday morning you come into the wilderness of Shur. Every Monday morning you come into this wilderness. You have learned Christ, though, and you find that you cannot do without Him. If you are going to continue in the Christian path, you cannot do without Christ. But you come into this pathway and you find you are in that world where Christ is not, but He came into it. The wood cast into the waters suggests that the Lord came into the condition in which you and I are. He has been in it, and I refer to His days of flesh and blood. He has been in it. He is no longer in it, but He does say, “I am with you all the days, until the completion of the age”, Matt 28: 20. Another thing He says is, “I will not leave you orphans, I am coming to you”, John 14: 18. So He has been in it. He is in it with us, and He will come into the position with us. What a Saviour! What a Lord! And so the wood is cast in and the waters become sweet. Are you in bitter circumstances, dear brethren? Some of us have known what bitter circumstances are. I think I can say that all of us have known in our measure what bitter circumstances are. The wilderness is not to my taste naturally or yours naturally, but you are moving as led there. “And Moses brought Israel from the Red Sea, and ... into the wilderness”. You are moving under the direction of the Lord, you might say, and He knows what you are passing through, and be assured that He is in the circumstances with you; be assured of that. He knows what the bitterness is; He knows that. He knows the waters are bitter, He knows the experiences we go through in life can be bitter, sometimes very bitter, but He comes into it and when you find Christ you find sweetness. If you do not find Christ you remain in bitterness, but He is available to us, He is available to us all. In life’s circumstances He is available to us all but you have to seek Him out. You have to find that blessed Man, you have to have contact with Him. The Spirit of God is the Gift the believer has to revive him as he draws on that power and his link with Christ. You need to make contact with the Lord Jesus. If you do not make contact with the Lord Jesus you cannot continue as a Christian in testimony. It is too much for us. Luke’s gospel speaks about the man that is going to war, “Or what king, going on his way to engage in war with another king, does not, sitting down first, take counsel whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him coming against him with twenty thousand?”, Luke 14: 31. That is the believer’s position without Christ in the world. He is meeting a force he is unable to overcome, but with Christ he is able to overcome. That scripture gave me some encouragement to proceed with this word. James’s epistle speaks about the tender compassion and pity of the Lord, “Ye have heard of the endurance of Job, and seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is full of tender compassion and pitiful”, James 5: 11. That is the Lord we know. I would encourage us, whatever circumstances we are in, to continue, continue with the Lord. We are faced with exercises where some have not continued. Somewhere along the line contact has been lost with Christ. Dear brethren, and dear younger brethren, we need it all the time. It is not only for young people here, it is for all of us. We need it all the time. We need contact with Christ daily, the Spirit too and the Father. We need contact with divine Persons. I am speaking about the Lord Jesus particularly because He came into the circumstances in which you and I are. He knows them. He has been in them. He says of Himself, “Reproach hath broken my heart”, Psalm 69: 20. What a statement from the lips of the Lord Jesus, and yet He continued. He is the obedient Man, here for the Father’s will, so He would succour us in the midst of the waters of Marah by coming in and being with us, alongside of us to make them sweet. “I am with you all the days”. What a blessed statement! And to know Him that way! Make your Christianity real, dear young brother, dear young sister, dear older ones too. Make your Christianity real: keep alive in it, be alive in it and come into the enjoyment of it. You will find that the burden is released from your spirit. You may still have the burden but it is released. You have had a contact with the Lord and He will sustain you. I would encourage us all. He passes us through circumstances so that He might form us after Himself. He brings them into the wilderness of Shur. There is going to be a test. There are tests in all our lives. The humanity of Christ was tested; it was tested in the temptations at the beginning of His public pathway and He was found to be an overcomer. I say that with all holy reverence. He was tested again at Gethsemane and He was prepared for the will of God. God tests us but He is very tender about it. When you are younger He is very tender and there is grace upon grace. He can understand your thoughts, He can understand your feelings and He will support you in it. That is the God that we know, the God that we sang about, our times are in His hand. He will support us in it. He knows what we are passing through. I say again, He is going to form you after Christ. Whatever circumstances have come into our lives, He has an object in mind,
The dark threads are as needful
In the Weaver’s skilful hand,
As the threads of gold and silver
In the pattern He has planned.
(Author Unknown)
That is God. He is going to bring it all to fruition. He is going to secure a work in all our souls that can be housed in a body of glory. That is what is going through, personality after Christ.
He brings you into these circumstances. He says, “I am Jehovah who healeth thee”. The brethren might help me, and they do. You might get a word of encouragement to keep near the Lord. Someone might minister to our needs, as the scripture says in John 13, washing our feet to refresh us. Someone might help me to regain contact with the Lord Jesus, but only Christ can heal, only God can heal. We cannot heal anybody: only God can heal. Only God can heal what is in your soul and my soul that may be bitter. By Christ coming into it and being alongside me; and by drawing near to my Saviour and my Lord, I find healing, healing of a wounded spirit, healing of a distressed soul. Only Christ can do that, only a divine Person can do that, “I am Jehovah who healeth thee”. Be assured of that. We would desire to help one another, but there is only one blessed Person who can heal. God as healing can come into your life and my life. They say time is a great healer, but greater than time is Christ. If He has made a void in your life He will come in and fill that void. Make way for Him. Make way for Christ to fill your soul. Make way for Christ to fill your life.
Than they come to Elim and twelve springs of water. I think He gives you companionship on the pathway, sometimes unlikely persons, but look upon each one as belonging to Christ. Try to find a bond, try to find a bond with one another after Christ. We were reading this morning, ’Absolute consecration to Jesus is the strongest bond between human hearts. (JND Synopsis vol 3 p402) Is that true? A bond between human hearts - find that bond with one another. However difficult one another may be, find that bond and you will prove the blessedness of entering into a sphere of eternal life. I think Elim with seventy palm trees and twelve springs of water suggests a sphere of eternal life known amongst the saints, and after that you will journey. They are not wandering here. They are led in verse 22 and they are journeying in verse 1 of chapter 16.
May the Lord encourage us with these few words to continue journeying under His guidance. For His Name’s sake.
Edinburgh
26th August 2008