April 28th, 1956                                    "Drawing Near to God"                                          Late Mr. N. Daniel

Exodus 24:2

" And Moses alone shall come near the LORD…" Moses by virtue of his obedience to the call of God and the word of God qualified himself to draw near God. Man is given opportunities to obey God and understand the truth of God. The natural rebellious nature of man questions the truth of God and postpones obeying it. When his pride leaves him, he will pray for obedience. Psalm 119:5, "O that my ways were directed to keep Thy statutes!" Some of us are so used to disobedience that the vital and fruitful and dynamic life of God which comes only when we know the truth and obey the truth cannot come into us. We are all given chances to know and obey the truth. To the extent you know the truth and obey it, the dynamic power of God will operate in you. Man is made in the likeness of God. Man in the likeness of God has the power to comprehend the deep truth needed to change men around him. But he must first know the truth and then obey it. Otherwise his life will be ineffective. Psalm 119:133, "Order my steps in Thy word: and let not any iniquity have dominion over me." David understood that only if he could walk according to the word of God and not allow any evil to have dominion over him, his life would be an effective testimony.

It is a wrong thing to go on asking God to bless you and bless you. It is a much better thing to ask God to teach you and give you the Spirit of obedience. Why was Moses asked to come up alone? He had learnt obedience. He had accepted the call and submitted himself to the obedience required. Why did he go to God for every little thing asking, "What shall I do?" and "What shall I say?" He understood that his wisdom was inadequate. Those who ask God about every detail of their life make Him truly God of their lives. God’s intention is to make you as capable a personality as He is. It is a grief to God that He is not able to teach us and make us obey him.

Do not go on asking God’s blessing on others without telling them the truth they should know. First to know and then to obey, makes you a part of God, so that he that touches you, will be actually touching Him. To work out this plan, God has found a way of cleansing the past and injecting into us a power to overcome the evil that once ruled us. A new law of the Spirit of Life in Christ which makes you rise above sin, begins to operate in us through His resurrection. There is cleansing through the death of Jesus and a new positive attitude comes into us through the resurrection.

Pray always! Thus you will become a part of that infinite wisdom of God. It is only when you humble yourself in His presence, He has a chance of putting in His thoughts into you. He gives you a new knowledge based on the written Word. As you are praying for grace to obey that knowledge, you are getting into you the power that Jesus wielded in His ministry. He that always does the will of God, is continually in harmony with God. Absolute obedience to His perfect wisdom and will is required. Doing this, you may lose the favour of man and worldly pleasures. But we take the Highest pleasure when we can effectively help others. When you cannot effectively help your brother a very real sorrow envelopes you. It makes you feel utterly helpless and dejected. Are we building our lives in order to enrich others and make them happy? Moses alone was asked to come right into the nearest presence of God. He obeyed God entirely so that he could be of help to his people in every aspect of their lives. When men were dying in their destructive philosophies of life, God could hand over His law to Moses, God knew he would obey it. He was 40 days in the presence of God in order to receive the Law. God says, He will write His law on your heart, make you His mouthpiece, so that rivers of living water will flow out of you. Have you prepared yourself? If we get accustomed to disobedience God can do nothing with us. Moses I believe would have died in great peace. His youthful longings to deliver his people were gloriously fulfilled. There was the whole nation delivered from bondage and walking hopefully towards the promised land. What an achievement! Exodus 24:7 & 8. Moses was the precursor of the perfect truth that was going to come through Christ. Great are the possibilities of your life too. Enrich your life with the knowledge of the Word and obedience to it. Some have such a knowledge which helps them to excuse their faulty life. The knowledge that makes you humble before the cross is what you need. Moses was able to help 250,000 people. According to your knowledge and according to your obedience you have the measure of Christ in you. According to the measure of Christ in you, there will be fruitfulness of your service. Your being in the Fellowship should mean obedience to God. Man may fail you but never God! God wants your mind and body to be perfectly obedient to His perfect will.