Guidance

The young woman stood high up on a mountainside, and before her was spread the whole world. Cities, and towns, and villages, and rivers, and oceans, and forests. Seven distinct roads seemed to lead from where she was standing on the mountainside, and her problem was to figure out which one to take.

She heard the sound of wind blowing behind her. She turned, and there in the rock face of the mountain was a door. And as she looked at the door, she could tell, and she could hear, that the wind was blowing on the other side of that door.

And she was wondering whether this was some passageway leading to a subterranean river. What was this? So she finally opened the door, and to her amazement, that door led to a totally different world. There was not darkness there, but light, blazing light, a sky far bluer than the blue she'd ever seen in any sky.

And from beneath her feet led one road, higher and higher until it reached a throne far above. And somehow she knew that if she took that one road, she would find herself down in that real world that she always knew below the mountain, and exactly the place where she was to be at any given moment. Revelation 1.9, I, John, your brother, who shared with you in Jesus the tribulation and the kingdom and the patient endurance, was on the island called Patmos on account of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.

I was in the spirit on the Lord's Day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet saying, write what you see in a book and send it to the seven churches. Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands. And in the midst of the lampstands, one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and a golden girl around his breast.

His head and his hair were white as wool, white as snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire. His feet were like burnished bronze, refined as in a furnace.

And his voice was like the sound of many waters. In his right hand, he held seven stars. From his mouth issued a sharp, two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun, shining in full strength.

When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand upon me and said, fear not. I am the first and the last, the living one.

I died, and behold, I am alive forevermore. I have the keys of death and Hades. John doesn't tell us the circumstances that preceded the beholding of that vision.

All he tells us is that he was exiled for the word of God. He was being persecuted, and he was put on this island, and doubtless he was suffering. He's in the spirit on the Lord's day, and he hears behind him a voice.

In other words, he's looking in this direction, but the voice comes from that direction. He's trying to figure out what to do about these problems, but the voice comes from the interior world of spirit. He turns, and he sees his Lord, clothed in splendor.

Whatever problems were on John's mind, whatever kind of guidance he was trying to get that day were forgotten, as he's taken into a totally different kind of guidance than he ever imagined could be, and he is drawn in to the mystery of the glory of the Lamb. And in that mystery, he is given a work to perform he never imagined would be his. When we say we need guidance, we usually think in terms of, should I move to another town? Should I take another job? Should I answer this call or that call? What should I do about this problem? But these questions are not nearly as pressing as we normally think.

What's really pressing is, will we turn and answer the voice that comes from the interior world, the voice of Jesus? For if I will turn and go through that door and follow my Lord on that one road that leads up to the throne, all the external problems that I might have will soon iron themselves out, and I will find that I will be in exactly that place in the world of flesh and blood at any given moment where I need to be, and I will have everything from God that I need to have. We know that our Lord's ministry was about 3 and 1 half years long, very brief. And that ministry was the external work of an internal, unseen, hidden mystery.

Glory, call it. 30 years, we know almost nothing about our Lord's life. We hear a little bit about His birth and one incident when He's 12 years old, nothing else.

That whole season of time, 30 years, is hidden under the hand of God. And even during His ministry of flesh and blood, those 3 and 1 half years, we get hints of what's really going on underneath the surface. He spends the whole night in prayer before He chooses the disciples.

After He feeds the 5,000 disciples, He goes up in the mountain and spends hours and hours in prayer. Many times, there are references to the fact that early in the morning, He gets along with His Father. These are glimpses that would lead us to understand that our Lord traveled not only within the narrow confines of the nation of Israel, which was very small, those dusty roads, but while He was doing this, He was also traveling the infinities of God's Spirit.

He was moving in the heart of His Father. And because of this, He was guided in the world of flesh and blood. Always ends up in exactly the place He needs to be at any given moment.

And He has what's necessary at that moment because He's moving in God. He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty, shall be guided by God's hand wherever He is. And He will be given those necessary things, that's exactly how our Lord lived.

And that's how you and I are called to live. And if we look back through the Old Testament, we see exactly the same thing. Moses, who was used by God to deliver the nation of Israel from Egyptian bondage.

Not only was he prepared for this 40 years in the Midian wilderness, doesn't even begin his life's work until he's 80 years old. But during the time he exercises this ministry that God has given him, we see glimpses again that he spends long seasons in prayer. Up there on Mount Sinai, you could almost say unconscious.

He's conscious of God alone, that's all. And because his real relationship, his awesome communion with Yahweh the Father is going on inside, he is able to do the mighty things that we see taking place outside. Isaiah exercises the work of a prophet in Jerusalem only after he has seen, really, only begins to move with power, only after he has seen God in a vision, high and lifted up.

Ezekiel ministers to the exiles in the city of Babylon. And his ministry is fired by these strange journeys through glory that he takes. And we get glimpses of it as we read the book of Ezekiel.

The apostle Paul traveled all over the Roman world. But the travels of Paul by ship and by foot were nothing compared with the traveling going on by Paul in the heart of the Heavenly Father. Years after he begins his ministry, he's still saying, I have counted everything lost that I might win Christ and be found in him.

He's seeking closer and closer communion with his Lord. So we say, we feel we need guidance. And how many of us have said that probably this week, either with our lips or in our hearts? And doubtless, this is true.

There is a road where you and I are to be. Each one here is given a special road to walk by God. No question about that.

And a work that you're going to perform, a thing you're going to bring to that road. And there is ahead of each one of us a battle, and victories, and miracles, and marvelous things, and a cross. But the only way you're going to find that is by following the example of our Lord.

You're not going to find it by getting on your horse and riding forth to do this dramatic thing for the Lord. Rather, you will find the road in the world where God wants you to be only by turning around and answering the call of Jesus, who speaks behind your back and says, come, let me lead you into the heart of God. Guidance is not so much should I do this or that.

Guidance is rather answering that call, come, let me take you. And if we will answer that call, turn around, and follow him up that road toward the throne, then everything we need out there in the world of flesh and blood will come in its time. And we will know what to do, and we will have what we need.

Now, Jesus stands in that doorway, so to speak, calling us and makes it possible for us to walk that road that leads to the Father by means of his blood. We couldn't move. We couldn't even put our foot on that road if he had not shed his blood and if he had not given us his spirit.

But now he's done both. And now he begins to teach us to walk the road that leads to the Father's throne. And the first thing he teaches us is that you move on that road that leads up to glory by means of prayer.

Notice in the Gospels how much he talks about prayer. He gave them a parable to the effect that men ought always to pray and not lose heart, not to faint, asking you should be given you, seeking you shall find, not going to be open to you. We're as serious about God as we are about prayer.

The person who talks a lot about God but prays very little, or when he prays or she prays, has the mind wandering all over the world, is not serious with God. You can talk about you wish God would do this and you wish God would do that, but you can't understand why you're not getting guidance or this isn't happening. And the question has to come, what do you do? What are you doing really in your prayer life? Are you really praying? Are you aggressively seeking the face of God or are you still fooling around? God will give us all the aid we need by means of the Holy Spirit.

He will quicken our prayers constantly if we put something into it. That is, we have to make time for it. If you don't make time for it, it won't happen.

Oh, I pray while I'm doing the dishes. Beautiful, that's lovely. But that's an insult to God if that's the only kind of prayer you give.

And when you get the time, you have to concentrate the mind. And you always have to also remember that you are pursuing not just things from God by your prayers, but you are pursuing God himself. Jesus teaches us also, if we only let him teach us, that as we travel that road up toward the throne, it starts to get quite steep very soon.

And we only find ourselves able to ascend that road by means of praise. And the place where Jesus teaches us how to praise God the Father is in the book of Psalms. And the book of Psalms are inspired by the spirit of the Christ.

They are the prayer book, the hymn book of the church and of Israel. And when you really get down into the Psalms, you discover that as you move through the book of Psalms, the further you go, the more it becomes praise, praise, until by the time you get to the end of the book of Psalms, it's nothing but sheer praise of God, nothing else. And the praise is not directed toward men or toward women or toward angels or toward the created world, but only toward God.

Everything in the world exists only to praise the Father for no other reason. And now that we've been redeemed by the blood of the Lamb, we exist only to praise the Father. And by the way, while we're talking about praise, we praise God not in order to get power, power in praise.

That's a ridiculous thing. You know, if I'm praising God in order to get something, then I'm not praising God, I'm working some kind of deal. You know, if I praise God, then things will work out.

Nonsense, you praise God because God is worthy of praise and for no other reason. Anything less than that is not praise. You wake up in the morning, your heart begins to praise God if you'd only let it go up to him.

And all through the day, your heart will continue to praise God if you keep it fixed on him. And your lips will open and your mouth, oh Lord, open thou my lips and my mouth shall show forth thy praise. And the most blessed time of the whole week ought to be, not your duty to get here, but to be here praising God.

This, when the saints gather to praise the Lord, there's nothing, there's no other time in the week like that. If we came here to praise God, that's what we would experience. And we'd have no problems, this liturgy, I can't understand it.

Man, saints have been praising the Lord through that for almost 20 centuries. We're not saying it's the only way, but don't knock it. Come with a heart full of praise and you can praise God standing on your head if you have to.

As we move up toward the throne, we begin to hear a sound coming from this blazing light that sits on the throne. You can't even see who is on that throne, not with these eyes, it's just light. And the sound comes forth from the throne and you can't tell if it's a voice speaking or if it's thunder.

You can't distinguish, you know, you can't make it out. Is this a language or isn't it? And the Lord then begins to teach us that we will begin to understand the voice that comes from that throne by means of simple, down to earth obedience. If you will obey what you know God has already told you, then your ears will open and it won't sound like thunder.

It will be a voice that's speaking directly to you. And what does the voice coming from the throne say? Basically one thing. He says, go and show mercy.

Which of these was neighbor to him that fell among these? Him who showed mercy, go and do likewise. Go and learn what this means. I desire mercy and not sacrifice.

Everything God tells us to do in these bodies of flesh and blood can be summed up in just that. I was hungry and you gave me food. Thirsty and you gave me drink.

A stranger and you welcomed me. Naked and you clothed me. Sick and you visited me.

In prison and you came to me. And don't look around the room and figure out how many people failed on that. Look at yourself and leave it with God.

Leave it with God whether these other people fail. You might just be surprised if you only knew. Now this is the way our Lord lived.

Constant mercy, nothing but mercy all the time. And he calls us to do the same. And when he tells us to love our enemies, that's what he's telling us to do.

Simply to show to our enemies the same kind of mercy that the Father has shown to us. Sure we're to be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. And we are not to cast our pearls before swine, but we are not to hold grudges.

When he says forgive 70 times seven, he's saying take the mercy which God has shown you and turn around and show it to your neighbor. Some of us are still sitting around waiting for that grandiose commission to go forth on just a dramatic, stupendous ministry. I haven't heard it yet.

The Lord hasn't told me yet. I know he's gonna tell me to go on channel seven. You're never gonna hear it.

You're gonna sit there forever and you'll never hear it because God has already told you to go and show mercy right where you are. You get up near the throne and the light gets so bright, you can hardly stand it. Your eyes can't stand it, nor can your skin.

Now he begins to teach us that we can abide in that light before that throne by means of thanksgiving. Look at Jesus. I thank thee, Father, Lord of heaven and earth that thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent and revealed onto babes.

Thank you, Father, for this bread. Thank you, Father, for this wine. The Son of God never ceases thanking his Father and how pleased he is when he sees this coming, usually from the Samaritans, you know, the people who are outside the church.

Then one of them, the lepers who was cleansed out of the tent, when he saw that he was cleansed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice and fell down on his face at Jesus' feet, giving him thanks. It was those who gave thanks who entered into the kingdom and only those. Jesus' ministry, and ours behind it is the same, was basically a ministry to the ungrateful.

He didn't care whether they said thanks or not, whether they joined his church, whether they repented, whether they did anything. He cared in the sense, for their good he cared, but he didn't tie strings on the good things that he did for them. But the only ones who followed the signs of healing and blessing that came to them into the kingdom of God were those who were grateful.

And over the months and years, many, many people in this fellowship and doubtless others that are represented here, have been touched by God in a wonderful way. Doors have opened, things have changed, prayers have been answered, bodies and minds have been healed, families have been healed, but those who show no gratitude toward God never change in their hearts. They go along for a while and as soon as they're right back where they were.

The only heart that changes, the only heart that changes is the heart that's grateful to God. I, John, your brother, who share with you in Jesus the tribulation in the kingdom and the patient endurance was on the island called Patmos on account of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. I was in the spirit on the Lord's day and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet saying, write what you see in a book and send it to the seven churches.

Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands and in the midst of the lampstands was one like a son of man clothed with a long robe and with a golden girdle around his breast. His head and his hair were white as wool, white as snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire.

His feet like burnished bronze refined as in a furnace and his voice was like the sound of many waters. In his right hand he held seven stars and from his mouth issued a sharp two-edged sword and his face was like the sun shining in full strength. When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead but he laid his right hand upon me saying, fear not, I am the first and the last and the living one.

I die and behold, I am alive forevermore and I have the keys of death and Hades. If you want him to guide you in this world, let him first guide you every day and every hour into the heart of God. Let's pray.

We're asking Lord that you show us exactly what this means in our own lives. Help us before we leave this place today, Father, to know specifically what it is that will help us see what we need to see. And take those blinders off our eyes and those scales that we might once again or perhaps for the first time see your mercy.

Deliver us, every one of us, Lord God, from prayerlessness, from praiselessness, from disobedience and from thanklessness that we may truly prove to be your sons and daughters even in this world of flesh and blood in the power of your Holy Spirit and in the name of Jesus, amen.