Holy Men Wanted Now

Till Christ be formed in you

We continue the meditation on the “Heart of the Matter” and will strive to learn a few lessons from great men of God who kept secrets. We saw God’s heart in David and the immense possibility of His heart being replicated in humans like us. We saw the Heart of Jesus offering up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and sweating blood in the process.

And we saw Paul, his heart in anguish, till Christ be formed in the believers he discipled. Here is a man who knew what was required to shake hell: True Christian men who knew the secret of God and kept it sacred.

Beloved, the time to shake the world and hell is closer than before. The day when God in Jesus will enter time once again and shake the world systems which are instruments of hell is nearer than ever before. The preparation is at God’s will but through the church’s pace of obedience.

The church – the body of Christ – has a great role to play in the preparation of the Lord’s coming. Only the church can have the privilege of knowing the times and knowing the God who reveals the deep and secret things, who knows what is in the darkness, and the light dwells with him. (Daniel 2:22).

And all it takes is one man or one woman in the church. Just one, who can make the difference, standing in the gap!

Let us look at a few who challenge us from the cloud…

Job

Caught in the cosmic conversation early in the history of the earth when, not many bright examples shone over his shoulders, Job set about preparing himself to be at its centre. Something supernatural was already happening in his life from his youth. Job had opened his secret life’s door to God. Job 29:4 testifies.

NLT: When I was in my prime, God’s friendship was felt in my home.

ESV: As I was in my prime, when the friendship of God was upon my tent.

NET: Just as I was in my most productive time, when God’s intimate friendship was experienced in my tent.

KJV: As I was in the days of my youth, when the secret of God was upon my tabernacle.

A long while ago, God set His heart upon Job. And Job was a prepared vessel to be tried by God and Satan and eventually come out victorious as an overcomer!

God’s heart is looking for men and women on whom he can set his heart upon even in this generation. The FRIENDSHIP OF GOD is the secret we can learn from Job. And the way Job maintained this was simply being consistent in building his relationship with God.

Keeping your closet time of prayer and spiritual training in holiness through it, with God, irrespective of your age, is the secret power which trains you to be ready to be exposed to the battles involving principalities and powers of the cosmos. Job did it when he was young. Daniel still did it when he was old.

Gideon

In Judges 6, we see the heart of Gideon already doing secret things, hiding grain from the invading Midianites, so his people would not die from starvation. The majority of the Israelites had gone into secret dwellings of shame, living in dens, mountain caves and strong holds, and greatly impoverished.

The people cried to God and he first sent a prophet. Then he sent Gideon. Let us learn some secrets from the life of Gideon.

First, when the angel appeared to him, Gideon spoke back to him with the word of God! Can you imagine that scene, when Gideon actually answered God with his own words? In the midst of the perilous situations, his seeking heart sent him to refer to the writings and sayings of Moses, his faith father. The greatest event in the history of Israel was the deliverance from Egypt and the story was told over and over again. It went deep into Gideon’s heart and he was constantly asking himself and God if all that was in vain.

The prophet had already answered the question but God was not giving up. He saw in Gideon ready to be sent to the battle. Gideon did not need any preparation. He was ready. God was already with him, this mighty man of valour.

Midian was about to experience hell at the hands of Gideon’s God. Remember Gideon was from Manasseh, on the other side of the Promised Land, not crossed over. God’s eyes were roving to and fro on either side of the Jordan.

How has your time with the word of God been growing in these days? In the midst of the storm of internet Bible studies, have you found your door of faith being opened more and more into greater light shining not only in the dark recesses of your heart but also onto your real and virtual neighbours?

David

David tried hard to keep some secrets. He even went to the extent of murdering his probably most loyal soldier in order to keep the secret. Such was the magnitude of his secret sin. In his backslidden state, he lost complete self-control and discovered the co-existence of the heart which was not at all after God’s own in himself.

But the ending of that episode was in repentance and confession. David made one more discovery that God was seeking truth in the inward parts. Previously, David had actually crossed, indeed, set up many milestones in his life where he had secret rendezvous’ with his God. We see in Psalm 32:7 his confession of the Almighty God being his hiding place and in Psalm 9:9 as his refuge.

Troubles always came in David’s life and never left him alone. On that road of oppression, snares and noisome pestilence, David was able to sing songs of deliverance and left those troubles as memorable personal victories.

I consider his song in Psalm 27 as a climax of his spiritual journey and a revelation of his spiritual secret. The secret of his hiding place was the DWELLING PLACE OF GOD. He emphatically states that the one thing that he desired and asked of the LORD, and that he will seek after and seek most – was to live in the house of the LORD all the days of his life, delighting in His perfections and meditating in His Temple. This echoes his longing in the Psalm 23. “I shall dwell in the house of the LORD forever.”

Remember that for many years, David was driven from the rightful inheritance that was his as an Israelite to visit the Temple of the Lord, though it was only a Tabernacle during his time. He was being chased out of his home country, so he could no longer live among the LORD’s people, far from the presence of the LORD. See 1 Samuel 26:19. The scheming of human carnal leaders had brought him this lot.

Nevertheless, this did not deter him from his longing. He cried out frequently in the wilderness as the deer pants for water. He knew the preciousness of the sanctuary of the LORD and endeavoured to carry that PRESENCE THROUGH WORSHIP. He kept on singing.

Do you? Even when you are sidelined and shunned? Blessed are the poor in spirit.

This spirit enabled to bounce back from secret sin and be restored to the presence of God.

Paul

Paul came from a rich background. He did not lack anything. His father was a Roman citizen, a very rare privilege at that time. Paul was a businessman – making tents, awnings, sails, and other canvas or leather items. His home town Tarsus was famous for its schools of philosophy and literature. Paul was tutored by Gamaliel, the best Jewish teacher money could buy. He could comfortably discuss and use the prevailing philosophies of the day. He knew how to handle and transmit money and organise and direct churches.

He knew his way around successfully in Jewish, Greek, and Roman courts. Felix detained Paul, hoping to extract a bribe from him. When Paul arrived at Rome, he could afford to purchase a large house.

Yet, from the prison cell in a letter to the Philippian Christians, he says that he learnt, in whatever state he is, therewith to be content. He knew both how to be abased, and how to abound; everywhere and in all things, he was instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and suffer need. He could do all things through CHRIST WHICH STRENGTHENED HIM. Phil 4:11-13.

He was able to transmit the same feeling to the Corinthian Christians, that God has a way of making all grace abound, that they, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work. 2 Cor. 9:8.

Eventually, he could instruct Timothy that godliness with contentment was indeed great gain. This is a secret that we tend to take for granted and have not the readiness of mind to accept with joy. You and I would not have been impacted so much by the apostles’ doctrine – Paul being the chief among them, had it not been for this governing secret.

There is one more person whom we need to learn from, in order to make this study complete.

You

Job had his secret friendship. Gideon had his secret word. David had his secret place. Paul had his secret grace.

What have you? Truly no one has a better kaleidoscope of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven than this generation. The accumulated knowledge and experience are available in the Book and books in a latent spiritual form. The call, now, is to bring the spiritual form into physical form, that which can be heard, which can be seen with our eyes, which we can look upon, and our hands can handle, of the Word of life.