DEPENDENCE ON THE HOLY SPIRIT
J. Wright
Exodus 2: 15–22; 3: 1–6; 23: 20–24
What our brother has brought before us, beloved brethren, shows us in a full way what our responsibilities are, responsibilities which we are not to elect ourselves out of, and, as knowing God, we would not wish to. I have been thinking a little today of this section in regard of Moses, and I thought it might help us to see how we can fulfil those responsibilities.
While it is clear that Christianity is to be a full-time occupation, not part-time, there is a certain background, certain conditions, which are required. Moses was an outstanding man of God; I just want to refer to certain features that marked him in simple matters. The days of a Christian’s life are to be not complicated but simple.
First of all there is Moses sitting by the well. The last two Lord’s days at the Supper we have had a word bearing on the unselfish service of the Holy Spirit. How unselfish He is in His service! Moses here is sitting by the well, he is restful. He might have been disturbed; he might have been upset having to leave Egypt; all his ambitions—if he had any; I do not suppose he had any really—but if he had any ambitions they would have been finished; but Moses was finding his resource by the well, sitting by the well. What a Helper we have in the blessed Holy Spirit, beloved brethren, how readily we can avail ourselves of Him. We might say, as to what has been brought before us, How can we fill it out? How can we fill anything out in Christianity? We cannot fill it out apart from the help and the power of the Holy Spirit. Therefore Moses is found sitting by this well. A change comes about with Moses with a result, he becomes a helper. Well, we can begin on this line of being helpers. We can all help in the matters that are on hand; we do not have to do it all; none of us has to do it all; but we can become helpers.
So this matter arose as to the watering of the flock. Moses rose and helped them; he was, available, beloved brethren, in an unselfish way to help these persons water their flock. I believe this would be characteristic of Moses, as a result of sitting by the well.
In Exodus 3 Moses is carrying out unselfish service; he was content to remain in Midian. We were reminded the other week-end as to piety, and I believe piety lays a basis for this. I do not think we would be able to function rightly in matters without it, without piety, and without contentment. Here was Moses; he was content; the circumstances were not of his choosing, but he was content in them. Well, Moses is active here as tending the flock, someone else’s flock; he was unselfish in his service. He takes time to turn aside to see the great sight. It is clear, beloved brethren, that these matters do take our time, but what blessed matters they are. What better occupation could we have than to give our time to them? Moses could have gone by and just glanced at this matter, but he turns aside. There is a thorn-bush, it says, “And the Angel of Jehovah appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a thorn-bush—and he looked, and behold, the thorn-bush burned with fire, and the thorn-bush was not being consumed”. God takes account of what Moses said and what Moses does here; he turned aside to see this great sight.
Well, there are great things to be seen in Christianity, great things to be seen by the Spirit. We would like to understand more the meaning of this, the thorn-bush being burned but not being consumed. It must relate to the way that God Himself has come near. He says to Moses, “I am come down” (Exodus 3: 8). What a wonderful thing it is, beloved brethren, that God has come near! What food for our contemplation there is in that! It says in John’s gospel,
“And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us” (John 1: 14). John speaks of those who have contemplated Him, “contemplated his glory, a glory as of an only-begotten with a father”. If we are going to be affected by the beauties and graces of Christ, if we are going to exhibit them in some way, it must be as we contemplate them, contemplate what has come near to us, beloved brethren. The writer to the Hebrews says that our God is a consuming fire.
What a state of reverence and fear we need to have in that way. Not a state of bondage, but of fear. So God had come near in outwardly insignificant circumstances. The circumstances in the testimony are outwardly insignificant, but how glorious is the divine presence; God Himself has come near.
I just refer briefly to Exodus 23; the presence of God would be drawn attention to in this Angel. The Angel would speak to us of the Spirit of God. The assurance that God’s thoughts are going through, and that God’s people are going through in relation to them, is in the presence of the Holy Spirit here. There is to be a people brought into the land, a people to be brought into all the wealth that God has for them, and it is dependent upon the blessed Holy Spirit and His presence here, His unselfish service. God’s name is in Him, it says. All that is due to that Name is maintained here by the Spirit. What a Name! James speaks of the excellent name (see James 2: 7). What a name is upon us in that sense, the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, involving the way that God has made Himself known in this glorious economy of love. On our side we need to be careful, to respect the blessed Holy Spirit, to give Him what is due, to give Him His place, to hearken to His voice, to listen to what the Spirit is saying to the assemblies. How much we need to listen! We do need too to have anointed lips, and we need to have anointed ears to hear what the Spirit says to the assemblies. Thus I believe, beloved brethren, we will be furnished in a fuller way to fill out our responsibilities in relation to what our brother has said. May we be helped in it in the Lord’s name.
Word in meeting for ministry, Redbridge
4 January 1983