Certainly I Will Be With Thee
from Jehovah — God in Action on Earth
Martin Cecil June 20, 1958 Class
Just before our departure at the end of last month, I was using the story of Moses to emphasize some vital points in relationship to the acceptance of ordination in leadership. I thought perhaps tonight we might take a further look at the experience through which Moses passed as it is recorded for us, and as it so definitely and obviously relates to our own experience—for surely the need for true, stable, understanding leadership is just as evident today as it was in the particular circumstance of Moses' experience, that there might be found some on earth who cannot, by any device that may be brought to bear, be caused to betray the Lord, to be swayed or influenced to deny the expression of the spirit of God through oneself, to fail to be true to that glorious vision which we, above all people in the earth, have been privileged to share.
What provocation is capable of making any one of you assume an attitude, speak a word, allow the manifestation of an act, that you know, because of the vision which you have shared, is wrong? And how quickly, if for a moment you should be so unwise as to allow wrong patterns of response to be engendered in you, how quickly do you recognize it and, being honest, repent? There are those who have tended, coming along the way, to delay in repentance, and as we move in the intensified cycles of service it becomes increasingly dangerous to do so.
I have emphasized this point over and over again. I do not think that a consideration of my past services over the months and the years would reveal that I have failed to make clear, abundantly clear, that the laws of God work, and that if we dedicate ourselves to the Lord and are so foolish, so unwise, as to violate His laws, we will receive the results speedily of so doing. If we expect the power of God to work constructively, to accomplish the purposes of God on earth quickly, then we must recognize that we are also placing ourselves in position so that if we should be so unwise as to contend with the Lord, we will find that the intensification of His power, working through the established laws of His Being, will bring forth that which is not so pleasing also quickly. So we are not, most assuredly, playing children's games.
We are engaged in a ministry which is in fact a matter of life or death, both to us and to the world; something deeply serious. Human concepts, human ideas, human desires, human patterns of any kind, cannot provide constructive direction in that which we do. Only the spirit of God can be trusted. Only those human beings who participate in the leadership that is provided by the spirit of God, the spirit of God in action through human beings, can be trusted. We know full well that man of himself is a broken reed, not to be depended upon. But God is trustworthy and dependable, and if we are His servants we serve Him who is dependable and trustworthy. And because we serve such a Lord we ourselves become dependable and trustworthy in the expression of His spirit.
And we cannot escape. I remember Paul in one place spoke of being the prisoner of the Lord. There is no means of escape for the prisoners of the Lord. I have known human beings to maintain an attitude which would allow them, from the standpoint of their own view, to move out from a position of pressure, in other words to quit. If pressure built up a little too much, more than the individual thought he was willing to take, then he would say, “I do not have to take this. Somebody else can take it,” and move out. That is supposed to be independence. But it is of course the attitude of one who in fact betrays himself and betrays the Lord, and betrays his fellows. Those who are servants of the Lord can never do that. Nothing can cause them to break the pattern of their integrity. Those who are honest, true to God, cannot escape from the Lord.
We see something of this as it worked out in relationship to Moses when he began to recognize the responsibility that rested upon him by reason of his privilege of vision. It was something of a shock to him, and I have no doubt he felt somewhat overwhelmed, because he stood alone and he could not in that circumstance look over his shoulder and say, “Well I will leave it to somebody else,” although for a moment he tried to do just that. But of course he immediately realized that there wasn't anyone else to leave it to, because nobody else had the privilege of his vision, of the understanding that had come to him, of the appreciation of all the factors that were involved in the situation. So he did not persist.
As individuals perhaps we do not stand alone in the same way that Moses did. That has been a little point of excuse used on occasion by some, because it was felt, “Well if I do not do it, somebody else will. After all, I am not the only one in the Lord's ministry. There are others. They can do it.” But that is not being honest, because each one who has had the privilege of vision in the Lord's ministry carries the responsibility of individual action, an individual action which can manifest through no one else. There is no one else, and in that sense each one is in exactly the same position as Moses was.
And let us remember that you did not choose the Lord. The Lord chose you. So when we begin to realize these things there is no escape. Is that a difficult thing? To me it is a wonderful thing, that there should be no escape from the Lord. Most human beings who give any thought to God and the things of God are desperately trying to get to the Lord, at least that is what they think they are doing and that is what they think they want. Coming to the point of realizing that we are the prisoners of the Lord, we cannot get away from the Lord, surely should be cause for the greatest possible rejoicing, because we have found that for which so many human beings the world around have been looking. Prisoners of the Lord—you cannot get away. Interesting, isn't it? The Lord has chosen you, and without betraying everything that is most precious and holy and sacred, without betraying yourselves, without betraying the Lord, you cannot escape.
We remember that Moses' reaction, when he really began to realize what was required of him, was not at that point in the form of rebellion—more of a questioning: “Who am I that I should go unto Pharaoh?” And the Lord said, “Certainly I will be with thee.” In other words the human being tends, recognizing the nature of responsibility that rests upon him, to become self-centered and he says, “Who am I?” But immediately there should come the realization, based in prior vision, that it is the Lord's business. And the Lord said, “Certainly I will be with thee”—“This is My responsibility insofar as the action is concerned. You do not have to worry about that. All you have to concern yourself with is being true to Me, true to the vision, true to the things of God, true to the expression of the spirit of God, in living. Certainly I will be with thee.”
We have seen how the Lord so carefully trained Moses, how the circumstances of his life were worked out, cycle after cycle, so that he might come to the point of fulfilling the purpose for which he was on earth. And of course the initial part of his conscious recognition of these things came when he began to study into the records which he found pertaining to God, the Story of Creation, the Principles of Being, the Divine Plan. He saw these things and began to understand them. He also had the ability to remember with respect to his people in Egypt, and how it was necessary for them to come out of Egypt if the Lord's purposes were to be fulfilled. He saw the needs and he understood the way by which those needs might be filled, and it all came to focus in himself.
And so it has also been with you. You have been shown these things also. You have been brought to this time and place, step by step. You can, if you will, look back over the experience of your own lives and see how it has been all leading forward, in the unfolding cycles of God's purposes, to this hour. Because you have the vision, because you see also the need out there in the world, you find yourself in the same position as Moses did. And you remember how Moses was a little doubtful that he would be accepted by those to whom he felt himself to be sent:
“And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them?—[How shall I convince people that I am Your servant?] And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.”
What was it that brought you here to this place, to this hour? It was a recognition of something, to start with you did not know what—something that you felt, something that carried a certain authority to you, something that carried a conviction. You may have been inclined to doubt it at times, to question, even to rebel, but you found you could not escape. There was that which carried a conviction of authority, something you sensed, not something you had all figured out. Those who thought they had it all figured out, and were supposedly responding on that basis, did not stay. Only those come and stay who are aware of this something which carries authority. And here we see the very simple process by which the lost sheep of the house of Israel may be found—not by going out and trying to convert anyone, to convince anyone, to try to jam it down anyone's throat, but to reach a point where the expression of your being is the expression that carries the authority of the Lord. Our Master made the statement that His sheep would hear His Voice, and so it is. His sheep hear His Voice, but His Voice must be carried on earth to His sheep. Those who hear His Voice come. Some others may come too, but if they do not hear His Voice they will not stay.
“And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM.” If you have the ability to say, “I am”, identifying yourself, that I am which you claim to be actually springs forth from I AM, and the Lord may rightly say—with respect to your statement, “I am,” in relationship to yourself—I AM THAT I AM: You are not your own but Mine. If you have any true identity, THAT I AM.” It is as there is the acknowledgment of this truth, so that the individual's expression into life proceeds from the source of I AM, that the authority of the Lord is made manifest on earth, God in action on earth. And the lost sheep of the house of the Chosen One hear His voice. So we see that the primary purpose is to let His Voice manifest on earth, and when we do that, the rest will take care of itself.
Those who hear His Voice will come. And those who do not hear His Voice will not come, or if they do they will not stay. All this futile, self-active business of trying to save souls, supposedly for Christ, is seen for the nonsense which it is. When the Voice of the Lord is heard on earth His sheep hear it, His sheep know that it is the Voice of the Lord. Satan comes along too, yes, and satan has something to say of course; he has doubts to inject into the picture, he has arguments to put up, he has excuses to set forward, but the chosen ones come through. They do not believe satan; they believe the Lord. They believe the Voice of the Lord when they hear it. So Moses, when he went down into Egypt, gave expression to the Voice of the Lord, and because he did so, he was received by the elders of his people—the chosen ones. But without that there would have been nothing. To go down in the strength of a man and try to convince would have accomplished nothing. It must be the reality, it must be the Voice of the Lord, it must carry the authority in actual fact, if the job is to be done. And this is that to which you are called: that the expression of your lives may carry the Voice of the Lord's authority. And the elders of the children of Israel will hear and respond; they will come.
There are those of course who are the lost sheep of the house of Israel who still sleep, and those who sleep do not hear the Voice until they awaken. Of course if the Voice becomes powerful enough it will awaken those who sleep, it will be sufficient to awaken the dead—the last trump, the Voice of the Lord, the Voice of Many Waters, the Voice as of the sound of a Great Trumpet, spoken, speaking, on earth, God in action on earth. And the action of the Lord achieves His purposes. The chosen ones come, and those who refuse to be chosen go. That is the way it is: the sheep and the goats—not humanly determined-upon judgments of good and evil. You cannot look around and see human beings and say, “Oh this one is a sheep and that one is a goat.” No. They classify themselves. There is no need to judge. All there is need for is the Voice of the Lord. And the chosen ones hear the Voice and come, and in turn begin to share in letting that Voice have greater volume. Those who do not hear the Voice, though they may temporarily come, will not stay.
This is the Lord's way, and it is marvelous, wonderful in our eyes. We would not question it. We would not try to make it be some other way. We would not imagine that by some great human effort it would work out better some other way. It will not. We need to be content and let it be God's way because we trust God, because we know it is the only way that will work. Regardless of what human beings think or feel or believe, or anything else, it is the only way that works. We cannot reject it without rejecting the Lord. And if we reject the Lord we reject all hope for ourselves or for anyone else, insofar as we are concerned.
When we can go unto the people and say, “I AM hath sent me,” and speak truly, the Word of the Lord may be spoken on earth. There may be the reality of God in action on earth and the Lord shall be known consequently by His name Jehovah, God in action on earth. No longer simply God Almighty, up in heaven somewhere, known by that name to many people, but Jehovah—God in action on earth, the Word of the Lord spoken on earth, the spirit of the Lord made manifest on earth. And God's action achieves the purposes of God. The lost sheep of the house of Israel hear that Voice, respond, and come. And the Voice swells in volume and there is an awakening of the lost sheep, and others come, come to share in the ministry of Jehovah on earth, God in action on earth.
This is your Commission, each and every one, that to which you are called and chosen and ordained. God in action on earth. Remember that God never attempts to do the impossible. Some have imagined that if God actually was in action on earth, instantly everything would be changed. God never attempts to do the impossible. He works according to His laws, He is governed by the principles of Being, of His own Being; the essential requirements must be there. In the end, of course, everything will be fulfilled. God has patience and time, but He works it out step by step, never violating the laws of His own Being, never violating His own principles. And when God acts through you, so is it also through you, and you are true to your vision, true to that which you know, and you reject everything, anything, that seeks to cause you to violate your integrity, that which you know to be right, that which you have experienced by reason of the Voice of the Lord which carries authority to you. You no longer give any authority whatsoever to the whisperings of the serpent of your own mind, or the mind of any other who has accepted the control of the adversary.
As you do yield to that one control, that one authority, you change; you do not stay the same. A young person growing up realizes that there are changes coming, and in that process of growing up there is the feeling of not knowing oneself. All too many of those who imagine that they are adult have come to the conclusion that they do know themselves. The very moment a person reaches that conclusion he has chosen to be a dying soul. There is a constant process of unfolding and there should ever be a delight in knowing what one has not known before in relationship to oneself. If you accept what you think you know about yourself and let it go at that, you are certainly a dying soul. The patterns of your being in the outer sense must change, every one, and they will change in the right way when the individual is true to the vision which he has. The vision will change, his attitude will change, his ways of doing things will change—the way he speaks, the way he acts. The manner in which some people cling to their patterns of function would seem to indicate that they imagine they are already perfect. What foolishness! They need to change altogether. You do not know what shall be. “Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love [and serve] him.” But if you uphold and maintain these patterns of human being, how can the expression of Divine Being appear? And how can the Voice of the Lord be caused to manifest? Because God is in action on earth through you. He does not have much of a chance, does He, if you insist upon remaining simply the human being you have thought yourself to be. That is not what you are.
