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Friends of God - November 2025
Vol. CVII Number 3 November 2025.
Contents
FRIENDS OF GOD
THE DIVINE FRIEND
By H C G Moule
EDITOR’S LETTER
GOD’S FRIENDSHIP
By G D Watson
FRIENDSHIP: TRUE AND HOLY
By The Editor
THE PERFECT FRIENDSHIP
By Lucy Larcom
FACE TO FACE
By Mrs Jessie Penn-Lewis
COMMUNION WITH GOD
By Charles Finney
ABRAHAM
By F B Meyer
“For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of His Son while we were still His enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of His Son” (Romans 5 v10).
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THE DIVINE FRIEND.
By H C G Moule
First remember the assurances in the Word of God of the fact that the Lord is our friend. “I tell you, My friends” (Luke 12 v4). “I no longer call you servants, I have called you friends” (John 15 v15). And, in less direct but profoundly significant phrases, “We will come to them and make Our home with them” (John 14 v23). “I will come in and eat with that person, and they with Me” (Revelation 3 v20). “I too will love them and show Myself to them” (John 14 v21). Our closeness and “our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ” (1 John 1 v3).
Remember what these and other scriptures imply by the idea of the friendship of the Lord. It is an idea, not merely of support and compassion from Him, like when a Christian philanthropist is said to be the best friend of the lonely, the poor and the fallen. It is also that of intimacy, holy interaction and feeling. “I will come in and eat with that person”, as well as they with Him (Revelation 3 v20). “A servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from My Father I have made known to you” (John 15 v15).
From ‘The Surrendered Life’.
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THE EDITOR’S LETTER.
Dear Friends,
Welcome to the November issue. Our Lord Jesus Christ became flesh and lived among us. By doing so He experienced being human in every way, including having friends. He had many, and the Gospels highlight the story of 12 special friends, including Judas Iscariot, to whom the Lord said, “Do what you came for, friend” (Matthew 26 v50). A most surprising phrase to the natural human ear. Yet, it reveals the depth of Christ’s love for us and the loyalty of His friendship, even when betrayed by a friend. As believers we find great comfort in the fact that we are now friends of God, because of Calvary and His resurrection, which allows us access to the Holy of Holies by His Spirit. The Holy Spirit now helps us, as Jesus’ friends, to preach, teach, serve, pray and evangelise, to name a few things. And when we share Communion, this reminds us that we are God’s friends. This issue is centred around the theme of ‘Friends of God’.
Please note, our 2025 Russian language issue of ‘The Overcomer’ is now available in print for anyone who wishes to read it, or give it away. The issue translated is the 2021 issue ‘Streams of Grace’. Please contact us to receive a free copy.
In Christ,
Mark
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GOD’S FRIENDSHIP.
By G D Watson
There are many ties that come down from God like golden threads, which bind us to Him. He is our Creator, Sustainer, Redeemer, Ruler, Father, Judge and many other relationships, but there is one tie that is different from all the others, and that is friendship. God is our friend, and we can by grace and walking the steps of Abraham become the real friends of God.
(1) The friendship of God is the coming together of our souls with God on something that looks like equality of interests and fellowship. Friendship is a special bond which is not to be compared with other relationships. We may have friendship for our parents, children, brothers, sisters, bosses or workers, but pure friendship can exist outside of all those relationships. Friendship involves equality of mutual tastes, interests, confidence, agreement, community of thought and sympathy to promote mutual happiness. Friendship must be free from anything like covetous motives. True friendship cannot be begged, bought, commanded, teased or frightened into existence. It is a delicate thing that must come spontaneously, like flowers in the Spring. It is the perfume that flows out from two souls coming together in harmony.
Friendship is the echo of two souls who are like mountains, properly adjusted to each other. This helps explain the pure friendship between God and His trusting creation. What amazing respect from our heavenly Father, to come down and seemingly put Himself in equality with us, and to take us into a real and positive friendship with Himself. When a father plays with his little child on the floor, and plays horse for the child to ride upon, for the time being there is no thought of his parental authority, dignity, or being a law-giver, judge, provider or a protector to the child, but only an equal, and for that moment a playmate for his little one. This gives us an idea of what God becomes to us in being our friend. He lets Himself down into the limits of our interests and feelings.
Friendship with God is shown in Scripture as the basis of prevailing prayer. Jesus says, “Suppose you have a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread’” (Luke 11 v5). Abraham was the friend of God, and on the basis of that friendship he interceded for the people of Sodom. Every tie that binds us to God has beauty, and in Divine Fellowship there is great power and joy.
(2) The friendship of God outlasts that of all others. God is the only friend who never fails us. How frequently and easily the friendships of earth wear out. As children, we all had little friends that we thought would last forever, but in a few years the delicate romance passed away, and the friends drifted away from us. Then came youth with its friendships that we thought were rooted in granite, but they obeyed the same law of change and floated away. And then came middle life, with its more thoughtful and serious friendships, which after time suffered and declined. And then we move on to lonely and quiet old age to find that change and decay have characterised all earthly things, including what we once thought were strong friendships. It is not always because friends have been unfaithful, but often it was the pressures of life that separated us. We all had our special callings, burdens, diverse paths to travel, and the constant change of circumstances, acquaintances, thoughts or feelings. Eventually our friendships just lost sight of each other. But God is the faithful friend, from Whom we never move away from, and who is always going our way, and whose interests are always our own.
The exact things that have killed off the friendship of other people, have only made God more of a friend to us. Where other friendships wear out, God’s friendship wears in. The things that make others forget us, are the very things that make God remember us. Just where our failures, troubles and sorrows stretch the patience of earthly friends, God’s friendship breaks out afresh like finding a gold mine on a piece of poor land. God’s friendship is not conditioned on our beauty, prosperity, success or popularity, but on our personality, and being His own creatures who need Him forever. His friendship is never fussy, overbearing, critical or dependent on what other people thought of us. God has proved Himself over and over to be the friend that sticks closer than a brother.
(3) God’s friendship goes deeper down into our nature than is possible for any human friendship. His friendship not only takes into consideration the needs of our bodies and mind, but penetrates to the inner depths of our spirit nature. His friendship is stronger than all others, because He knows us better. He knows the natural deception and frailty of our mortal nature more than anyone, yet He knows what we can be made into, and what in our hearts we long to become. His blessed eye can see something in the outcome of our lives, and our salvation, that will in the end, astonish those friends who think we will never amount to very much. Often our friends see just enough in us to get tired of us, and ignore us, but if they could go deeper down, and see what God sees, their love would be far different.
We can say things to God that we could never say to anyone else. We feel more at ease with His pure eyes searching us through, than we can under the gaze of our fellow humans. God never gossips about us, never misunderstands us, never puts on any artificial dignity, never tries to hurt our feelings, never throws our forgiven sins back into our faces, never tells us off because of our natural deficiencies, never boasts of His own superiority to us, never lets His friendship be suspended because of any mere technicality, never ostracises us to give audience to people of more popular reputation. His friendship makes us feel at home with Him, and that we have a right to all His secret fellowship and tender hugs, and that all of Him is for us, without reserve, as truly and as boundlessly as for any other saint or angel that ever was. God’s presence does not oppress the privacy of our secret lives but His infinite majesty rests down upon us like the pressure of the atmosphere, without being a burden, and gives us a childlike familiarity with Him, which is never possible with any famous person of earth, or even with our nearest relatives.
Even Christian people who pass for great saints, when they are allowed to have money or great renown or religious authority, are many times uninformed, extravagant and dictatorial over God’s heritage, until they play the fool in the name of religion. On the contrary, our blessed God wears all the splendour of infinite majesty, with the gentle sweetness of a little lamb, and no trace of human snobbery. He opens His friendship to each of us, without partiality. We are never common to God. He never loses His respect for each of us. He never calls us names nor is He sarcastic about on our failures. What an amazing God we have. Who of us cannot say with Solomon, “He is altogether lovely. This is my beloved, this is my friend” (Song of Solomon 5 v16)?
From ‘Our Own God’.
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FRIENDSHIP: TRUE AND HOLY.
By The Editor
“But you, Israel, My servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, you descendants of Abraham My friend” (Isaiah 41 v8). Here is a promise for any believer. The Lord wants to be friends with His servant’s children. The Lord designed a covenant of friendship with Abraham, the father of faith, and it was on this basis that He dealt with the Children of Israel throughout the Bible. The Lord Jesus Christ then clearly demonstrated what a friend of God should look like and do.
We must understand that friendship was what the Lord Jesus Christ came to earth for and to achieve. He said, “I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know His master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from My Father I have made known to you” (John 15 v15). You see, He had made a friend of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. David too was His friend. Jesus Christ is the Friend of sinners. He follows and pursues those He loves for they are His beloved.
The little child with a favourite toy is a good example. The enemy tries to break and steal the little toy but the child’s Father pursues the toy and redeems it back for the child. Jesus Christ redeemed lost humanity at a great price and it was this that made Him victorious over His enemies. The victory of the Cross saw Him break the power of sin and set the prisoners free, forever. This was His eternal will and it was sealed in promises throughout the Bible. The Word is the record of all His promises, written down by humans and recorded eternally.
False friendship comes from the enemy when he charms people with sensual things and makes them walk in the futility of the mind, enjoying only momentary pleasures. But friendship with God is eternal knowledge of the Creator. This is a wonderful advantage given to humankind through the Holy Spirit who dwells in the believer. He is the Lord who pardons, protects and heals the lost who come to Him. For great is the reward of those who hunger and thirst after righteousness for His name’s sake.
Love paved an important path to friendship. He is love and His friendship is a free gift, given at the cost of the Father’s dear and only Son, who died on Calvary. This means that He values friendship at a great price. The price was the death of our Lord, which brought us, the enemies of God, into friendship with God. His death and resurrection provide a way back to the friendship and peace that Adam had in the Garden of Eden, before sin came between God and us.
Love always costs a price and He honours those who pay the price for the sake of love, and who pursue Him with their whole hearts, at great cost. Jesus told the parable of the merchant, who when he found a fine pearl of great value, “he went away and sold everything he had and bought it” (Matthew 13 v45). It is not too far an interpretation of this Kingdom parable to see in it that the pearl of the Kingdom is friendship with God, brought into existence by the salvation experience fulfilled by His Spirit. How much is friendship with the Lord worth to you? My prayer is that we will all, as believers, guard our heart and preserve the intimate friendship we have with the Lord, at all costs.
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THE PERFECT FRIENDSHIP.
By Lucy Larcom
Humans have a natural desire for loving and meaningful friendship. The deepest wish that the heart recognises when it first becomes conscious in this world, is the desire for love and for a friend. Isolation of the soul is unnatural, and we instinctively feel that what is in us is there because it is within God too. He must have brought us into existence, because He wanted our love. He loved the very thought of us before we appeared, that we should be friends to ourselves, to each other and to Him. He did not want to sit upon a lonely throne, but to gather around Him intelligent beings who would share His Kingdom, and rule over nature and their own souls.
He wants to be the Father of our spirits, and bring us into a near and dear relationship with Himself. And whatever close and beautiful relations we have because of our humanity, He too wants to be that to us. So that in every way we will love Him and be loved by Him. He entered our humanity, and spoke to us through the lips of His perfect Son. His own thoughts became audible to us in a human voice. He showed us a person, like ourselves and with a life like ours, with the true image of Himself that every child of His was created to show. In every possible way, His plan is to keep our visible existence filled and flooded with His invisible Life, so that we would never make the mistake of thinking that our home is in this world, while we really belong to Him and are heirs of His unseen Kingdom.
God made humans to be His companions and friends. And He made them like Himself, in giving them a desire for companionship and friendship. Every one of our human emotions He filled with a deep spiritual hunger, the attraction towards Himself. Whether we know it or not, it is Divine love to which we are always irresistibly attracted. But while He made us to love, He made us also free to choose or to refuse love, and refusing Divine love is refusing immortality.
When so inspired, they belong to “a great multitude that no one could count” (Revelation 7 v9), and the Spirit of Jesus Christ breathes through their renewed life. There is then a Divine thought behind and within every one of their thoughts, which shapes and reveals its beauty, as light touches a pebble and transforms it into a gem. And they, instead of being only one among many, stand out as a being within which immortal destiny takes glorious shape through the moulding power of the Holy Spirit. “Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom” (2 Corinthians 3 v17). The one who feels the Divine Hand at work upon their soul does not care for normality. While they are bound to all humanity, they are submitted to none. So, their manhood or womanhood has freedom to grow to full development. This is what it is to be a person growing forever into the image of the One Divine Person.
In life we often feel ourselves left in spiritual separation from those we love. Sometimes life grows lonely, and even the strongest people crave a relationship that is deeper than everyday talk. They want something profound, something that they can reverence as well as love. Then a sense of something which they cannot understand, that is greater than themselves surrounds their life, and there is strength and peace. “That you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God” (Ephesians 3 v19). This is the overwhelming Heart that leans out of Heaven to be close to us. He has secrets which He wants to communicate to us, when we are ready to receive them. In this beautiful knowledge are many glorious things of time and eternity. “You are of Christ, and Christ is of God” (1 Corinthians 3 v23), therefore “All things are yours” (1 Corinthians 3 v21). The promise has no limit in its fulfilment. It is “immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine” (Ephesians 3 v20). We do not always have everything we ask for, because they would not really be the things we truly desire. There are immeasurably more depths of love that will forever be opened to us through the revelation of God in Christ.
It is this conscience of eternity that we desire, that we believe in, and never find in human friendship. The deepest love leads us beyond itself into the Infinite Heart, who gives us eternal peace. In the love of Christ we feel every emotion sustained, developed and transfigured. This love is the fulfilment of our inner dreams, and the answer to our unspoken prayers. The silences and the delays of time are forgotten when through them we hear the reassurance of Christ’s own voice saying:
“Mine is an unchanging love,
Higher than the heights above,
Deeper than the depths beneath,
Free and faithful, strong as death” (William Cowper).
Throughout the Hebrew Scriptures the words used to express God’s love for His people were understood by them to refer to only them but Christ and His apostles revealed that they were for anyone and everyone. The tone is from One who cannot let His friends get lost. “Return to Me, and I will return to you” (Malachi 3 v7).
When the Father’s call was not heard, He sent His Son down to lead the wanderers home. The voice of Christ has a tone of surprised sorrow, when He says to the unbelieving Jews, “yet you refuse to come to Me to have life” (John 5 v40). Looking forward to His final sacrifice, and as an appeal to humanity, He exclaimed, “And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw all people to Myself” (John 12 v32).
What He had to give to them was the lost secret of their own lives, which was life from the Father. If only they would have understood what He desired to do for them. It must have seemed to Him incredible that they would be unwilling to be guided by His words. To those who did in part comprehend Him He said, “If you love Me, keep My commands” (John 14 v15). It was because the Son was entirely one with the Father that He had the right and privilege to ask of His friends such a requirement. To keep His commandments is to do the will of God.
Christ is our example of true faith and loyalty to God, because of His self-sacrificing devotion to truth. We must accept and allow Him to live in us forever as the Spirit of Holiness. We must eat the flesh and drink the blood of the spiritual Christ, and so absorb into our spirit the principles of faith, sacrifice, love and obedience.
The atonement is the union of humanity with God through entering into the life of Christ. And this oneness with Him is the secret of a great friendship. A person must live for the same purposes and principles that belong to their beloved, whose love they seek, before the oneness of friendship can be reached. To be a friend to a holier person is to continually learn to live as holy as He does. This is what it means to be a friend of Christ. To love Him is to become like Him.
There is no greater example in history of the reality of one person’s relationship to another person, than of Jesus Christ to Paul the Apostle. But Paul had never seen his Master with natural eyes. His friendship with Christ was a spiritual friendship and he was so in harmony with Him that he could say, “I no longer live, but Christ lives in me” (Galatians 2 v20), and “For to me, to live is Christ” (Philippians 1 v21). Few, if any, have ever reached Paul’s glorious loyalty.
Yet the Presence of Christ to Paul was no less real than the Lord has been to the poorest and most vulnerable. One of the songs heard in the past among American slaves before their freedom, was heartbreaking in its passion, “Nobody knows the trouble I see, nobody knows but Jesus.” Jesus Christ was the only real friend the singers knew, and He was their Helper and Friend.
The missionary William Duncan told that a former cannibal, who had just heard about Christ, was lying at night in the door of the missionary’s tent. When the man thought everybody was asleep, he spoke out softly the words, “Jesus, open Your heart to me”.
Every heart is in need of Christ’s love, but those who have felt emptiness and slow spiritual starvation, are the readiest to respond to the outpouring of the Divine Heart into theirs, and to believe in the closeness and tenderness of such a Heart. It is the humanity of God that the lonely soul first comprehends. It is that which makes the name of Jesus so satisfying and so dear. Jesus, Name above all other names. Human name of God above.
Those who are enlightened with the True Light, have a desire to go forward and get nearer to the Eternal Goodness. And, to come to a clearer knowledge, warmer love, more comfortable assurance and greater obedience. And when they come near to the Eternal Goodness of God in Christ, they desire to have a relationship with the Master. We can lay our hands into the hand of Christ, and be sure that they will be guided only to holy and loving actions, for He is Love. In Him we have the human friendship of God.
Most of us have known, at some point in our lives, the power of a close relationship that brought out our full capabilities. We did not know what we were, until we saw ourselves in the light of that love. That friend gave us the atmosphere in which to grow and bear fruit. We were truly ourselves in their presence and under their influence. If this is true of human friendship, then it must also be true when living in constant communion with the Son of God and Man, the Friend who is great enough to take in all humanity, and at the same time understand and meet our separate needs. One who is the companion of Christ and measures their life by His perfect standard and will accept no less, will develop a stronger individuality than others. Every part of that person’s nature will find its meaning and purpose within their Lord’s. In Christ, every smallest motive, word and action are illuminated by divine love, and the power of that love strengthens them to do their work. The truest person in every sense is the one who is the most trustworthy friend of Christ.
One of the sweetest lessons learned at the feet of the Divine Friend, is the lesson of trust in our earthly friends. We may have proved their faithfulness many times, but there are a thousand ways for doubts to creep in. In nearness to the Perfect One we know the perfect love that casts out fear and we know that love means trust, confidence and belief.
The living, loving, invisible Christ can be made understandable only to those who love Him. The revelation of His being and character is the sunlight into which the flower of the soul unfolds and gives back beauty for light.
“Submit to God and be at peace with Him” (Job 22 v21). Other friendships are the ripples on the sea, but He is the sea itself, and the ripples find their calm in Him. United within us, His Spirit will steady our ever-changing lives, and in Him we know true peace.
Life flows toward life, sometimes as harmony, sometimes as discord, but Jesus Christ the Great Musician knows how to find the perfect harmony, and we learn with trembling fingers to strike the mysterious keys with Him. We are permitted to help Him make music. May we be strains in His glorious and eternal song.
From ‘The Unseen Friend’.
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FACE TO FACE.
By Mrs Jessie Penn-Lewis
“As Moses went into the tent, the pillar of cloud would come down and stay at the entrance, while the Lord spoke with Moses. The Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as one speaks to a friend” (Exodus 33 v9, 11).
While Moses was on the mountain, the events that occurred in the Israelite camp below coincided with a surrender to God in his life. Whether this surrender was caused by the events we cannot be sure, but after this crisis we read, “The Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as one speaks to a friend.”
When the people saw that Moses, the man upon whom they relied for communication with God, did not return, they went to Aaron and cried, “Come, make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt, we don’t know what has happened to him” (Exodus 32 v1). They wanted to have gods to worship, like the Egyptians they had left behind. Aaron was frightened and gave in to the cry of the people. In heart and act the mistaken people went back to Egypt.
On the mountain, God told Moses what is taking place, saying, “Now leave Me alone so that My anger may burn against them and that I may destroy them” (Exodus 32 v10). But Moses knew God, he had seen what faith could do, and his confidence was in the compassionate heart of Him Who had done mighty miracles for them. In boldness of faith, he held God to His word, saying, “Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac and Israel, to whom you swore by your own self” (v13), and he had power with God and prevailed.
Jehovah had said, “I will make you into a great nation”, but Moses did not want glory at the cost of Israel. His aim was to bring the people into the promised land. He had pleaded and suffered for them, his whole heart was filled with the intense desire that they should obtain their inheritance. It is impossible to pray for others and not be filled with a deep longing on their behalf.
Moses could not, even for a moment, take any glory for himself, and let these souls who had been freed and kept by God, be defeated. He “sought the favour of the Lord” (Exodus 32 v11), and held Him to His word, with the result that the Lord repented, and Moses left the Presence, knowing what to do to prevent the judgment of God upon the people’s sin.
He descended out of the stillness of the Holy Presence, with righteous anger against sin. He took the golden calf, burnt it, and ground it into powder. Aaron said, “You know how prone these people are to evil” (v22). This did not matter to Moses, who had come from the Presence of God, and the sin and shame of Israel that turned them from the Living God to pagan symbols was too clearly before Moses’ eyes to listen to excuses.
What a night that must have been as Moses pondered over the events of the day, and prayed until his next incredible decision. He could not entertain the thought that Israel still might lose their inheritance, and forfeit the Presence of God.
When morning dawned he said to the people, “You have committed a great sin. But now I will go up to the Lord; perhaps I can make atonement for your sin” (Exodus 32 v30). Back up the mountain he went, never swerving in his purpose, until he reached the Presence, to make his bold request, “now, please forgive their sin — but if not, then blot me out of the book You have written” (Exodus 32 v32).
He offers to sacrifice, for the sake of Israel, every reward for which he had surrendered the pleasures and treasures of Egypt when he made his choice in the court of Pharaoh. He then chose the path of the Cross with a hope of future gain, but in close fellowship with God he had so closely entered into the divine attitude of sacrifice that all selfishness had gone.
It has been said that fellowship is more than partnership, because it is a blend of spirit with spirit and of heart with heart, so that no words are needed, for the two are one.
It is only possible to understand the words of Moses by knowing and sharing the attitude of Christ that lies behind them, for they speak of self-surrender that few of us have known. Those who have entered into the sufferings of Christ for His Church's sake know something of what they mean, for they have learned to pour out their souls unto death in fellowship with Him. Not that they share in His atonement, but in the law of sacrifice, so that life will flow to others.
Knowing the heart of God as we have seen it revealed in the Lord Jesus Christ, God must have been deeply moved as He looked at His pleading servant, for back in eternity the Lamb had offered Himself to His Father as an atonement for the sins of the people.
Jehovah had been showing Moses His plan for teaching Israel the meaning of sacrifice for sin. He showed him that the Son of God who was to be offered up at Calvary was the one perfect sacrifice for the sins of the whole world.
As Moses listened to God's directions about the Alter of Burnt Offering, and the great need of atonement, when Israel's sin would be put away by the blood of bulls and of goats, he understood then why they had been sheltered from the destroyer in Egypt by the blood of a slain lamb. As he pondered over the great sin of Israel, he saw that God might accept him as an atonement for the people.
He resolved to identify himself with Israel and to suffer with them. How little Moses knew that he was typifying the only begotten Son of God who, in human form, identified Himself with sinners, and "God made Him Who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God." (2 Corinthians 5 v21).
The divine Spirit had made this man of God look at Israel from God’s standpoint, and is moved with pity for them. In truth, the world can never be the same to him again, for he was drawn into union with the heart of God, and in turn then shared His attitude of compassion for sinners, while hating their sin. In reply to the pleading of Moses, God did not cast off the nation, though the consequence of their sin would follow.
From this time Moses was granted a closer fellowship with Jehovah than before. He had up to then gone up to the mountain when called, but now he had free access to the immediate presence of God, in a “Tent of Meeting" set apart for the purpose and pitched outside the camp (Exodus 33 v7). When he went out to the Tent, the wondrous sight was seen of the cloudy pillar descending and standing at the door, while inside "the Lord would speak with Moses," and spoke to him "face to face, as one speaks to a friend” (v11). "With him I speak face to face, clearly and not in riddles" (Numbers 12 v8).
We are given a glimpse into one interview at this time between God and His friend, a glimpse of the inner life of Moses as it progressed more and more into oneness with God. The previous interviews in the Presence were on behalf of the people at Horeb, to receive his commission, then at Sinai, to learn the laws, and in the forty days at the summit, to be shown the pattern of the Tabernacle, where God would dwell in the midst of Israel. But the veil is lifted to show us the friendship since his surrender for the sake of the people. The one desire of Moses is now, "teach me your ways so I may know you" (Exodus 33 v13). He had passed beyond all things to God Himself, and when the promise was given, "My Presence will go with you" (v14), Moses grew bolder, and said, "Now show me Your glory” (v18). Through the words of the Lord Jesus, we understand what he asked, for the Son, when on earth, explained the purposes of God as they had been in His heart from all eternity, and said of His redeemed ones, “I have given them the glory that You gave Me, that they may be one as We are One. Father, I want those You have given Me to be with Me where I am, and to see My glory” (John 17 v22, 24).
Jehovah replied, "for no one may see Me and live" (Exodus 33 v20) and then predicts His restoration plan. As cursed ones they cannot see Him and live, but hidden in the cleft Rock, the wounded side of Him who when the set time had fully come would die for them that they might die in Him, and in Him pass into the place prepared for them. They will behold the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ who is the express image of His Person.
After the interview in the “Tent of Meeting," Moses is called once more to the mountain, and the Lord descended and stood with him, and proclaimed His name, giving him a revelation of His character and grace to which Moses bowed and worshiped.
Again, Moses spent forty days and forty nights on the mountain, and later he told Israel that he “fell prostrate before the Lord for forty days and forty nights” (Deuteronomy 9 v18) because of all their sins. Forty days of intercession for the people followed his offer to suffer on their behalf, and when he returned to the camp his face shone with reflected glory. So unearthly was this glory that Aaron and the people were afraid to come near him, until he called out and talked to them like before. We also see that those who do not know the Lord can so little bear even the reflection of His light. Moses found it necessary to put a veil over his face while he talked. It was the Presence that separated him and his people, and his difficulty was to get others to not fear him, for he was human after all. He was veiled to humans but unveiled to God, and the veil was taken away when he went in to speak to the Lord. What loneliness and isolation this was to him, for he could not have close fellowship with Jehovah without separation from others.
This is what "face-to-face" fellowship with God means. On God’s side lives, "with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into His image with ever-increasing glory" (2 Corinthians 3 v18), yet by the unconscious and unavoidable effect of that intimacy with God, are veiled to others. Veiled also under the covering of an ordinary life, "known, yet regarded as unknown; dying, and yet we live on; beaten, and yet not killed” (2 Corinthians 6 v9), "pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair” (2 Corinthians 4 v8). “Always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that His life may also be revealed in our mortal body” (2 Corinthians 4 v11). “We have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us" (2 Corinthians 4 v7).
From this time onwards the main work of Moses was to communicate the will of God to the people, and it is written that he was "a very humble man, more humble than anyone else on the face of the earth" (Numbers 12 v3). This is the mark of the heavenly life, and the result of intimate relationship with God. Jesus the Holy Son said, "I am gentle and humble in heart” (Matthew 11 v29), and as we share His life, and are conformed to His image, we will have a quiet spirit, which is so precious in the sight of God.
The meekness of this man who saw God "face to face" shines out in his later life. His sorrows and outward trials grew more severe through the very souls that had already cost him so much, and he was tested greatly. He had to learn fellowship with our patient God, and bear with the people to the end.
In many trials the heavenly spirit shone through. Moses' freedom from all self-glory was seen in his response to Joshua, who was jealous for his leadership, when he said, "Are you jealous for my sake? I wish that all the Lord’s people were prophets" (Numbers 11 v29). And his silence when Miriam and Aaron spoke against him (Numbers 12) also shows in him the spirit of the Lamb.
After all that Moses went through on their behalf, the event he feared came about. Israel was turned back into the wilderness when on the very edge of the promised land. Even while Moses was with them, some of the people proposed to elect a captain to take them back to Egypt. Once again God threatened to destroy them and offered to make Moses the founder of a chosen people. Had he accepted the offer he would not have needed to spend the weary years that followed with the rebellious nation. But he again turned from selfish thinking and deliberately shared in their lot.
For nearly forty years they wandered in the wilderness, until at the end it went wrong for Moses for their sakes. Tired with that great and terrible wilderness, and with the endless unbelief of the people, he spoke “rash words” from his lips (Psalm 106 v33). God had said "Speak to that rock," but in bitterness Moses forgot to walk softly with his God. He struck the rock twice and failed to obey God. God could not overlook a single lapse into disobedience in the one who stood for righteousness before the people. Sin must be judged, whether in Moses or Israel. The greater his privilege of knowing God "face to face," the greater the sin of the least unfaithfulness, and so the word came, because he broke faith with God “in the presence of the Israelites” the Lord said, “you will see the land only from a distance, you will not enter the land" (Deuteronomy 32 v51, 52).
”Consider therefore the kindness and sternness of God: sternness to those who fell, but kindness to you, provided that you continue in His kindness" (Romans 11 v22). Let us fear the Lord.
Once more Moses ascended the mountain of Pisgah, and there he beheld the promised land. There he died, and was buried by God Himself. One hundred and twenty years old, his eyes were not weak, nor his strength gone. He was unworn despite all the suffering of those years in the wilderness, for his God had been his strength.
From ‘Face to Face’.
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COMMUNION WITH GOD.
By Charles Finney
Communion in the Bible sometimes means friendly intercourse, as in, "When the Lord had finished speaking with Abraham, He left, and Abraham returned home” (Genesis 18 v33). Sometimes it means advice and instruction, such the Queen of Sheba who, “at Jerusalem with a very great caravan, with camels carrying spices, large quantities of gold, and precious stones, she came to Solomon and talked with him about all that she had on her mind” (1 Kings 10 v2). The term translated fellowship in Philippians 2 v1 gives the same idea. "Is there any encouragement from belonging to Christ? Any comfort from His love? Any fellowship together in the Spirit?” And, "We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ” (1 John 1 v3). To communicate with God is to have friendly talk, consultation and instruction with Him.
What is implied in communion with the Holy Spirit?
1. It implies that He is a moral agent, and not just an attribute of God.
2. His actual and personal presence, and His indwelling is in the heart of those with whom He talks. He must be actually present with our spirit, to make it possible to communicate with Him.
3. The communion between the Holy Spirit and all believers in every part of the world implies both the omnipresence and the omniscience of the Holy Spirit.
4. It implies infinite love in Him, and infinite humility, when He communicates with us, and we share with Him all that is in our hearts.
5. Communion with the Holy Spirit implies that humans have the ability to consult Him, about our duty, His will, and the Kingdom.
6. It implies a longing in Him to be consulted by us. By Him admitting us into His presence, to give us an audience, and to listen attentively to all that we have to say, and to encourage us to be honest before Him.
7. It implies a sense of our own ignorance and deep dependence upon Him. We never seek communion with God, only in proportion as we are emptied of dependence upon ourselves. Someone who knows their own ignorance will seek communion with God to receive instructions from Him. A person who is not emptied of self-dependence, will not seek to abide in the arms of the Saviour.
8. It implies that He takes a great interest in us, because He is willing to often talk to us, to converse deeply with us, to enter into the details of our lives, and to interest Himself in our smallest trials and difficulties. To do this constantly, without weariness or impatience, shows us His profound interest in us.
9. It implies a fellowship between the Holy Spirit and us, so that we feel what He does, and that He feels what we do, that we have common objectives, are interested in the same things and are employed in the same work. In short, it implies that our fellowship with Him is our communion, and they are in fact the same thing.
How do we know when we have communion with God?
1. When we are conscious in prayer of being drawn by His silent and powerful influence. Every true Christian knows the feeling of that secret moving of our hearts toward God. A silent, but deep, drawing of our soul away from the world, society, work and everything else, into a holy private interview with God. Here the soul seeks to be alone, crying after God. And as they are on their knees, or perhaps at night in bed they say, "my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God” (Psalm 84 v2). From the deep bottom of the heart, our soul cries out, "Father, Father", over and over, and our soul is drawn into the deep waters of His love.
2. We have communion with God when we have great freedom in prayer. Sometimes our soul feels very burdened with conviction and distress, but we have no words. But at other times, there is great freedom. Our thoughts and words then flow, and we find our view of Him expanded. We have a kind of supernatural ability to express ourselves in a clear way, in pleading our cause before Him. There seems to be enough room in our hearts to embrace the world, and bring everything before God, by crying with tears for His mercy. We then seem to be able to express so much. We enter into such a deep empathy with God, so as to feel our souls drawn away with holy desires. In this state of mind we rest assured we are in communion with God.
3. We have communion with God when we know our needs. Sometimes we know that something is wrong, but we have no clear idea of what. An example of this would be those who have not yet learned to abide in the light, but have had great achievements, and often feel their spiritual needs open before them in a remarkable way. They see how greatly they fall short of what they should be, how many weakness, and troubles they have as a consequence of their former sins, and selfishness.
God often draws us into deep communion with Him, and has close talks with us, sometimes for hours and even days, for the purpose of gently opening before us those details in our character in which we need more grace. He shows us the depth of our ignorance, how weak we are under temptation, and how we will certainly be overcome but for His grace. In this state of mind, we may be sure that we are in communion with God.
4. When we are able to reveal the deepest needs and secrets of our hearts before God, we are in communion with Him. We sometimes feel as if we could go to the bottom of our soul, and bring out every secret thought and whatever has been concealed, and reveal them all to Him.
5. When we have grace to bring our strong pleading to God, we are in a state of communion with Him. Sometimes we plead with Him like with a friend, to bring our arguments with confidence, hoping to impact Him. The reasons we offer are strong in our minds, and we feel a supernatural confidence. We speak them over and over, and feel as if they could not be resisted. We often urge them upon God, refusing to be denied.
This was most likely the state of Jacob's mind, when he wrestled all night with God. In this state the soul uses strong language, takes hold of the strength of God, and casts its whole being upon Him, and upon the reasons which it argues, and upon His faithfulness and promises. This state of mind is understood by those who have experienced it.
6. When we feel like consulting God on almost everything that interests us, and that concerns His kingdom, we are in communion with Him. Christians sometimes want to ask God's opinion, consent and advice at every turn. They seem to abide in the state of mind like Paul was when he said, "Lord, what do You want me to do?” (Acts 9 v6). With others, this feeling is not common, but true believers know what it is to feel their hearts drawn into consultation with God for advice and counsel about the smallest of circumstances in life. In this state, the soul feels like a child, consulting a wise and affectionate father.
7. Whenever we feel like God is our special friend, and disclosing to Him all our secrets which we would not share with others, we are in a state of communion. The Christian sometimes longs to treat God like the best and most confidential friend, and to open before Him deep secrets. The Christian's soul is united to God. This is like marriage, but it infinitely exceeds this in the deepness and confidence it entrusts to God. No human confidence ever began to equal it. The sweet, sacred and profound relationship of the soul in God. It is a confidence that the soul feels when it shares with Him the deepest, darkest and most important needs in life.
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ABRAHAM.
By F B Meyer
In the grey dawn of history there is a great character that demands our attention, for he is spoken of as the “Friend of God.” He is worth our serious consideration so that we too may become, not only servants, but “friends”, who are the favoured confidants of God.
The friendship of God is freely offered to us in Jesus Christ. We cannot merit it, deserve it or establish any prior claim to it. We are His bankrupt debtors forever, wondering at the heights and depths of the unsearchable riches of His grace. The ultimate cause of this friendship came from the longing of the heart of the Eternal for fellowship, and it must remain a mystery why He should seek it among the fallen children of Adam, who are made from dust.
There are three conditions to be fulfilled by us to enjoy this joyful friendship, as was shown to Abraham in the rite of circumcision.
Firstly, separation, for circumcision marked out a separate people. And it is only as such that anyone can enter into the friendship of God. Secondly, purity, given by the special grace of the Holy Spirit. Let us trust Him to keep His own property in chastity which is so dear to God, this is the circumcision of Christ. Thirdly, obedience, for no sooner was circumcision commanded, as on the same day Abraham and Ishmael were circumcised. We do not obey in order to become friends, but having become friends we hurry to obey. Love is more unstoppable than law.
God built character in Abraham with which he could hold fellowship as friend with friend, and that life exerted a profound influence on all time thereafter. God can raise any crop He chooses when the soil of the heart is entirely surrendered to Him. Therefore, we should continually give ourselves completely to Him, asking Him to fulfil in us the good pleasure of His goodness, and the work of faith with power. Only let us trust Him fully, and obey Him instantly, and as the years pass by, then we shall witness results which shall bring glory to God in the highest, whilst they fill us with ceaseless praise.
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“A friend loves at all times, and a brother is
born for a time of adversity”
(Proverbs 17 v17)